Week 2 didn't go so swimmingly, for a few of us actually....
Had a great weekend down the cape with friends and family. I double dosed on one of the meds that actually makes me feel better so I would be up for the company. It messes bad with your kidneys so I was trying to take it easy on them earlier in the week. I really wanted to enjoy this weekend and did so thanks to modern chemistry.
My sister in laws and four close family friends came down and stayed at a hotel near our cottage. During the day they all hung at the beach and I rested so at night I could hang out and share in the laughs. Everybody was awesome and it felt great to feel good (thanks again mr decadron) for a couple days. We cooked at the cottage and the kids all had a blast as well. On one of the days I was able to take them all out tubing and that's when the adventure all began.
My chief soup architect Mike Pothier set the tone early in the morning when, after stepping on the boat said, "I'm not really a boating guy, not real strong in the water". My thought was, "well, the good news is you don't need to be good in the water if you stay on the boat". Ah, if only I said that out loud!
All the kids had jumped in swimming and the current started floating them away. They all had life jackets on of course so it didn't seem to be a concern but a couple of the smaller girls were scared. So, with no regard for his own well being Mike leaped into the water to save the young ladies who were safely engaged with their coast guard approved life jackets. Mike, who you may recall isn't exactly Mark Spitz, suddenly realizes he forgot his life jacket. And this is where I must introduce you to Mrs Martin, our dear exuberantly excitable friend who Mike decided to turn into his own personal floatation device. After a quick dash over in the boat and a toss out of his life jacket, all was good, the kids jumped on board, and everyone was safe. Then the funny part, as we got the last person in the boat we looked at the Garmin depth finder which was flashing 3.6 feet. Mike is 6 feet at least. We laughed hysterically but as it turns out it was broken and we really were over their heads but it was still good for a laugh.
Thanks to all my friends and family for the break from the treatments. I'm paying the price now, but it sure was fun. And Andy, if you are reading this, thanks for the 3 unbelievable comebacks in cribbage. It's one thing to be down by over 15 and come back to win once, but THREE times in a row. Unheard of. Tough to swallow for our competition. Especially when the words SKUNK were muttered by our opposition. Forget skunk, how about a straight out win!
Now for a boring commercial reminder of what this blog is about. It's two weeks today. Once I come off the decadron it goes right downhill and I am back being unable to drink due to the taste buds being fried and everything tastes like swamp water. I've tried everything, every flavor, every temperature. It just won't go down. I am going in tomorrow, wednesday, and getting another IV as I am getting dehydrated again so I'm excited for that. Makes you feel like a champ once it's in you.
Also, the feeding tube surgery is tomorrow. That should help me since I can then put fluids right in me and not go through the dehydration issue as often. It makes it so hard to focus once it sets in. You feel exhausted and sick to your stomach all day long. I made it in the office yesterday but was wiped by 2:30pm.
Colette called me yesterday and said she washed the dishes and the counter so no germs would make me sick when I got home from work. What a girl! She's always looking out for me. Today Corinne hung with me and read while I did some work at home. Got my medicine and drinks when I needed something. I'll miss these two a ton when I'm in Boston during the toughest parts.
One last call out before signing off. This goes to any nurse, or anyone who wants to relay this to a nurse they know. You guys rock. I went in Monday morning really hurting. My throat fired up over the weekend for the first time and it felt like the worst strep ever all day and night. I told the nurse who then looked at my throat and said she would go get a Dr.. My Doc was out monday morning, so a new guy walks in, all fired up and says "I looked at your chart, it's too early for you to be in this much pain". Oh, ok then, it doesn't hurt after all jackass. I just stood there looking at him and said 'Is that a question or are you calling me a sissy?' The nurse says, "I think he has some thrush I could see which is early but that's why I called you". The Dr whips around and glares at her and says, "that's why I'm gonna look in his mouth, I'll tell you what's wrong". The nurse winked at me with a smile but I was pissed so I just said, "doc, she's just telling you what I told her, you want to look, here" and I opened my mouth as wide as I could. He says I don't see any thrush, then the nurse (Susan) jumped in and said 'Mark, maybe you should show him where it is' with a nice little side of sarcasm. I couldn't have been happier for her. He was a real tool. So I pointed to it and he said 'oh, just that, ok I'll get you a prescritption'. So I said, "Susan, you were spot on, thanks". Why do some of these Dr's think they are so far above the nurses. Not all, this was the first one. The others have been fantastic and seem to work really great with the nurses. But not this one. Anyway, hopefully that's my last interaction with him. I don't do well biting my tongue in those situations so it's best we keep our distance before he prescribes a nice barium enema for me...
Cheers for now. REMEMBER GOOGLE+ is needed to post!!
Thanks for the cards and letters everyone, and the Smoothie gift card Melissa!!
Great post, Mark. Glad you were able to enjoy yourself!
ReplyDeleteI tested this, and it worked for this latest post, so for anyone who wants your updates via email, here's an option:
Go to
http://blogtrottr.com/
In the URL feed box, paste this:
http://markpetit.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
In the email box, put your own email address.
Updates - leave at realtime.
I've only tested it on this one post, but so far, so good. (No guarantees.)
So I see some joke telling starting to develop.....I like it:
ReplyDeleteA man decides to play some golf with his wife. Things are going fairly well but during the round the wife keeps wandering out in front of her husband when he is on the tee. "Honey, please step back, I don't want to hurt you." After she does it a few more times, the man decides to haul off and just hit his drive. Sure enough, he hits her in the back of her head - knocking her flat on her face - dead. Later at the hospital the doctor tells the man, "I am sorry to inform you that your wife has, in fact, died from a fatal, golf ball-sized contusion to the head. I need to ask you, though, what was the golf ball that we found up her ass?" The man replies, sheepishly, "Oh, that was my Mulligan."
Looking forward to around of golf with you after you are back to full strength!!!!
Hi Mark, just wanted to let you know that you're in my thoughts every day and I love reading your blog and following you through this difficult time. I'm glad you can put some humor into your daily life while you're going through this. I saw your mom and dad on the 4th of July and they let us know about the blog. (I didn't want to tell them that we already knew about it) Anyway, try to stay strong and, if you ever want to contact me, you can reach me on Facebook or my e-mail address is erinmic528@gmail.com. I will be following you every step of the way.
ReplyDeleteErin Sullivan
Ok I am back after an extended vacation which ended on a perfect day in Dennisport at the Petit beachhouse!! Its clear that you love when the beach house is full of people along with the 3 dogs Mark. I have to say it was a great time. Love the story about going tubing. However I too feel like Mike in the fact that I am afraid in the open ocean even when we are on your boat. I watched Jaws too many times...lol. I remember the first time you took us all out on your boat to Monomoy. I kept looking back to make sure I could see land. You kept telling me to relax. When we got to Monomoy I felt safe because it was a nice little island with a ton of seals. As I remember correctly we all, including the children had half our bodies out of the boat trying to pat and feed the seals our sandwiches ( a great way to attract sharks in what already was shark infested waters). The real truth is I was doing my lamaze breathing and couldnt wait for you to start the boat and head back to my comfort zone....what is even funnier is the next day on the news they reported that great whites were spotted off Monomoy and that seals attract them, thank God we didnt let the kids go swimming there. OMG you say that your throat feels like the worst case of strep? Are you kidding? I believe your worst case of strep was on our family vacation to Lake Champlain in Vermont back in the 91 92 time frame. Dont you remember all you boys going down to the beach one night and breaking out the "hard stuff"? Us girls had our night vision goggles and were trying to spy and listen to everything you guys were saying, then we snuck back to the house and hid the rest of the Jack Daniels and other alcohol because we knew we were all going to Montreal the next day for a family day trip and we figured you would all be hung over. Sure enough the next day you didnt look so good. You kept complaining about a sore throat. None of us cut you any slack, stating that you guys should not have drank so much. I remember you kept breaking out into a sweat and I thought this is a good thing he will sweat out the hangover. All the way to Montreal you moaned and groaned. I was a little concerned because you and I were the only ones who could speak a little french and I needed you after all you were Za leader of za group...the rest of the sisters would not be of assistance. Boy did I feel guilty and a little bad when we found out that the whole time you did indeed have strep throat. So sorry (this is my official apology). Colette is great you have trained her well she is a little worker bee. I would have to say though that watching your interaction with Corinne is hysterical she is her mothers daughter! You have your work cut out. You have the most beautiful girls and I love love spending time with them and chatting. I will never forget when they were little and you decided to coach soccer. I knew from the day we met you, you were a big sports fan. When you had girls I laughed and laughed thinking I cant wait to see hime coach. You Mark are an amazing father, uncle, and coach a true role model but what makes me still laugh today is the day I was at your house after you came home from one of Corinne's soccer games when she was little. To see the expressions on your face and to see the sheer frustration that Corinne was on the field picking dandylions, playing with her hair, and talking with the other little girls was hilarious! I will never forget you saying "oh my God Denise I tried to get her to go after the ball". You have a come a long way because both of your girls taught you patience and perseverence and look what good soccer and basketball players they are!! I could go on and on about more stuff but I will save that for another day. If you are up for it before you move to Boston this weekend would love to take you to see the movie Heat! I think its a must for you and will make you laugh throughout the whole movie. Let us know!! Love Ya Mark and always always on our minds!!
ReplyDeleteHey Mark!
ReplyDeleteI jumped on your blog for the first time and of course read the whole thing backwards. Boy, that changes the flow a bit! As you know I am not much for words but I promise I will stay on top of your blog and share some jokes and stories. I think we should start with our great deep sea fishing story. well, lets save that for the next time. tak to you soon.
Frank S.