Monday, August 23, 2004

Monday, August 23, 2004 8:33 PM CDT

Good evening,

Well - we got through today. It was long as expected. We had to wait for a half hour or so just to get a finger stick and quite a long time more to do everything else. The IV placement was traumatic but successful. Once again it took two pokes to get it in and Nathan was hysterical. The moment it is in he is instantly fine but before the placement and if the placment takes too long he starts screaming.

His pain was fairly light for a Monday. HE very calmly asked for pain medicine and oxygen while he was eating his lunch and then lay down. He had a grunt here and there and then slept it off. He was quite cranky afterwards and I am at the point where I am not handling it well so we have had lots of fights and cross words today. He is getting more assertive, which is good for the most part but hard for me. We had an argument about the clamp on his IV. He insisted that it should be closed when it is working and I tried to explain it was the opposite and he would interrupt me and tell me that I was wrong over and over again. I am on my last nerve and so I would not let it go either! He let me have a little catnap and asked me to share his pillow (at the Ronald) and then a few minutes later he kicked me out of his bed.

Later we went to a little toy store and than walked over to Joan's apartment to have dinner with her and my Aunt Eleanor and Uncle Bill. We had a very nice time and after dinner Nathan was having a ball running around the apartment and laughing and playing. He also was trying to pla with Joan's bull mastiff puppy who is not "puppy size". It was cute to watch.

We are counting down the days...I can tell I will need to recover when we return...I especially will need a break from Nathan. Staying at the Ronald we are right next to each other 24/7 and I need a break. It is going to take a lot to make it through the rest of the week. Thank goodness his treatments are going so well at least.