Wednesday, we had the IV Bumex scheduled first thing when the clinic opened. We were the first ones there ahead of the masses, all scheduled around the same time for labs. No one else was there, and we were taken back right away. Amanda asked to speak with Teia, our coordinator. She asked about subsequent IV doses. She asked if we were going home, and we told her we were waiting to see what Dr. Nair wanted to do. So, we left for the apartment, waiting to hear back. Amanda took a little nap while we waited. Once we got their word, we packed up quickly and hit the road. Tank was initially worried about the packing, but that turned into excitement when he realized he was going.
We left around 10:30; I joked that I didn’t think we’d left that early, even when we didn’t have an appointment and were just leaving from the hotel. We still hadn’t had our morning coffee, so we needed a pick-me-up before we hit the road. I was already tired. I think I know where all the StarBs are inside the 610 loop area! We needed a car wash; the Yukon was filthy. Our subscription at home works at a place in Katy but not around our area. So, I wanted to get a wash and cancel the service since it would be hard for us to use it with nowhere nearby. Once to Katy, I realized we’d already used a significant amount of gas, and I had only driven locally, not even on an interstate prior to that. I guess the Yukon is made to be a road king and not a town rig! I told Amanda I wanted to bring my Focus wagon, which I keep in Alpine, for my away-from-home car, up for a grocery getter and gas saver. By the look she gave me, I think I’d be getting those groceries alone. It got me around Brackett, back and forth to work a ton and even Iowa and back, all while loaded down with enough tools to build a house! That little ugly wagon has been a good rig.
We grabbed burgers at our favorite plant based place in San Antonio to eat on the road. Then we headed home. Amanda went straight to packing things up she wanted to bring back up. I gathered a few things and got to work on some union reports I needed to catch up on. I was able to make it to the Wednesday night men’s bible study, too. It was good to see some familiar faces. I also took care of a few things I needed to get done at the church.
Thursday morning, Amanda, Renee, and Rhonda went to Del Rio, where Amanda had her all-important haircut scheduled. I originally planned to come home, drop Amanda and Tank off, and head to work. So, I asked Renee if she could take Amanda to her appointment. With Amanda needing to be back in Houston on Friday, it was too hard for me to take off, and I really needed to catch up on my union work, and that’s what I did. After Amanda left, I worked on my accounting and annual reports all morning. I also knocked out my March billing and got everything printed out. I just couldn’t bring myself to bind everything, so that will have to wait.
I also needed to go to Del Rio. I had some things to drop off to be signed by our president, and I also wanted to make a few stops and took YJ with me, too. I wanted Mexican food, real Mexican food, so we grabbed lunch while we were there. Just as I was getting ready to leave, Amanda texted me. Methodist had called, and they seemed to stick to the six-month rule hard and fast. Amanda explained we still wanted to meet with their team to review things to be ready to be listed at the six-month mark. The coordinator didn’t want to make an appointment and said she had to get approval from the medical director. We just don’t want to run into the same things again, like the six-month rule, and have to start all over again when we could get a jump on it now.
Amanda also said Vanderbilt called and was ready to schedule an appointment. She wanted to check with me about dates first. I want to wait to talk with Dr. Nair first, but I’m thinking of late April or early May. He seemed hesitant about us flying, so I wanted to question him about that. My aunt’s house is roughly halfway, so we could lay over there to make it an easy drive. Teia also called about coming in Friday and said since Amanda hadn’t lost any weight, she’d need to be in for more IV Bumex. The latest they could do was 1 pm, though. That meant we’d be leaving early Friday morning to make it. After finishing my union work, I had some errands to take care of in town. I stopped by David’s, Renee’s husband, our moving power team, to borrow a window scraper, to get our old registration sticker off. After that, he went with me to our downtown place to help rummage through our storage and see what we needed.
The evening was filled with visitation. We had some good friends, Nathan and Kim, along with their daughter Kynley, come by. They stayed a while, and I eventually put Nathan to work, helping me back the Yukon to the brim. JJ, Amanda’s brother, followed them. He hung out while we had dinner, and then he swapped out with Betty, a good friend and praise team member. It was a busy evening, and Amanda still had to go to church to get a few things done. I was tired and ready for bed, so I begged out. She and YJ needed to go over some things anyway, so he picked her up. It was after ten when she got home, and Tank and I were both already tucked in bed!
We were up early and on the road by about 5:30. Even though early, Tank was still pretty excited to be going for a ride! Amanda had a return to make at Walmart, so we only went half of my new way. The curbside wasn’t open that early, so we could have gone the entire new way and missed the traffic lights. I was a little perturbed about that. We got StarBs in Hondo, then headed south to miss all the traffic, and Amanda, even after her coffee, was still passed out before San Antonio!
I was noticing the mileage racking up on the Yukon. The end of this month marks a year we’ve had it, and we’ve already put 32,000 miles on it. We did have a couple of trips, one to Colorado and one to South Dakota, but that only accounted for roughly 7,000 miles. The miles will only continue rising with me putting 400 miles round trip back and forth to work. We got stuck in stand-sill traffic just outside of Sealy for about 45 minutes but still arrived at the apartment with enough time to unload before heading to the hospital. I had to unload because I packed the wheelchair in first!
Amanda got a call from the coordinator, Teia, that the nurses were asking where she was. It was Friday, and they were ready to leave, I guess! So I unloaded just enough to clear the wheelchair, and we headed up a little early. It was going to be a pain to park and get Amanda in, so I just parked up front, unloaded her, and then she wheeled, quite literally, herself to the clinic. This is where that wheelchair comes in so handy; we couldn’t have done that with a big and bulky standard wheelchair. She wasn’t back long before I got the text that she was headed down in the elevator.
We needed to make a few stops to grab some things for the apartment, Amanda wasn’t done decorating. Costco is just a money pit, but we are now stocked up pretty well for a while, at least! By the time we got back to the apartment, it was a downpour. It was handy to have the reserved parking stop. I backed in, and we never got a drop of rain on us while unloading everything. I still had half of the stuff from home and all the groceries and decorations to unload. It took me a while to make the many trips back and forth to get everything.
I will be going to work Sunday and won’t be here Monday to take Amanda to the cancer center for her infusion. I checked with Jenny to see if she could take Amanda. She quickly said she’d love to and wanted to know all the details and anything that would help. I got her all lined up with where the closest StarBs was to make sure Amanda knew she needed to eat breakfast and addresses of where to go and how to get to the apartment. She was ready to stay the night with Amanda if needed. She’s a champ at the hospital thing herself, too, and will make a great fill-in for me. It’s such a blessing to have friends here to help out with things.
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