Day Four: More chemo and radiation.

It was a fairly uneventful as far as treatments go: radiation at 8AM followed by Chemotherapy at 8:30AM. We were done with all of that jazz before 11AM. Then the fun began. Beth and I had to stay in Portland until 2PM for another appointment, this time with the palliative care team. (Don’t freak out on me, I will explain it all later.)

So we popped over to Target and bought one of those inflatable mattresses. You never know when I may need more than a bed and a futon. After that we went to lunch at Burgerville. Best milkshakes I know of in Portland. And I thought I deserved a good shake! And after that off to Costco for… well I guess to kill time as much as anything.

And then we showed up at our 2PM appointment with Mark the Oncology Social Worker and Michael the Nurse Practitioner; the palliative care team. Now I fully admit that I thought that palliative care was associated with hospice care. Richard met both of them shortly before the end, so yes, I was apprehensive. Palliative car can be a part of hospice as it doesn’t focus on curing, it focuses on relieving suffering. It can focus on relieving suffering in people with curable conditions. And it was a good appointment. They helped me to understand what was happening and why and all that jazz. (Or as Max would say, “ve\7rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr”. And no, I don’t know exactly how to translate the phrase, but that is what he typed!)

Anyway, they cut back on my Advil, increased my Norco and told me it was good that I slept through the night. And they said it was okay that I still mourned Richard.

So, I am justified!