“Want to split a beer?” Peter asked me last night. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that question! Beer has been off-limits since Peter began associating it with painful gout attacks, but his blood work was quite good this week and the ol’ uric acid level was low, so he took the chance, and I’ve heard no regrets from him today.

His five days of chemo ended Sunday, and he began to feel better immediately. He’s been driving himself here and there, including to the oncologist’s office, where Dr. Vrana gave him a stamp of approval, and to the nephrologist, who was pleased with his blood test results.

Peter is taking at least one brisk half-hour walk per day, and I’m having to hustle to keep up. Tomorrow we get an early start for Charleston, where we’ll stay with good friend Mary for a few days. We’re looking forward to a walk on the beach if it’s not too cold and windy, and a visit to Charleston’s wonderful downtown Saturday market.

After weeks of occasionally hair-raising bluebird drama, I believe we’ve been honored by two of them finally making a nest in one of our boxes. Soon we will hear the cheeping of little chicks and witness the parents coping with the exhausting demands of parenthood. It’s been several years since the bluebirds favored us in this way, and it adds to the general merriment of this especially beautiful Spring.

It’s Day One of five as Peter begins his new round of chemo. He will take the oral chemo for five days and then he’ll have 23 days off before he starts again. The dosage is stronger this time, but there’s no radiation to intensify its effect. He’s wearing an anti-nausea patch on his arm and taking the oral anti-nausea drug he took last time, so the combined effect should at least lessen any nausea he might otherwise feel.
Daughter Hillary came out from Austin to visit us on Friday for a couple of days, and we were able to enjoy that one perfect day, Saturday, at the Botanical Garden. It was nice to see families enjoying the garden and picnicking on the grounds. We bought sandwiches at the café run by Dondero’s and ate at a table outside. The Bot Garden is a wonderful place to go lately. We also walked down to the Day Chapel to see how it looks after the ten years that have passed since Hillary and Chris were married there, and it remains a very special spot for reflection or rejoicing, as the case may be.
Peter addressed another health matter last week: he has been having trouble with a sore shoulder, so he drove himself to his doctor and received a cortisone shot. Doctor Lucas told him it was probably bursitis and/or arthritis, neither of which Peter is being spared, simply because he has a couple more exotic ailments, it seems!
We are making plans to visit friends in Charleston next week and are really looking forward to our first “fun” road trip in a long time. Who knows, I might even have a driving partner!

I’m tired after two days on the road, but not too tired to send the good news about Peter: preliminary results from the PET scan show no new cancer activity! The neuro oncologist says that Peter will, nonetheless, need to resume chemotherapy for five consecutive days each month. We’ll aim for starting that this coming Monday; then we will return to Duke June 4 for another MRI. If it looks good, we won’t have to go back to Duke for four months.
Each time Peter meets with the oncologists they give him a series of tests to measure his vision, reflexes, arm and leg strength and short-term memory, and they did that today, too.
He is always given three words at the beginning, and then at the end of the session, he’s asked to repeat the words. Until today, he had never been able to recall the three words, but today he did, and he was able to do some simple mental math (“If you received two quarters, a dime and two nickels in change, how much is that?”) and also for the first time, he was able to spell a word forward and backward. This represents a real improvement over even a month ago.
Once again, Ed did most of the driving, and what a help he was, not just with the driving, but also with his companionship. Thanks to Ed, these last two trips have been not just bearable, but (almost!) fun.
I think Peter will sleep well tonight.