not a babysitter

Shortly after Taylor was born, I was finally getting out of the house to see a movie with a friend of mine. Mitchell was happy to push me out the door so he could finally have Taylor all to himself. He was on the phone with his mother, and I heard him say, "No, I'm not babysitting....How can I babysit my own daughter?!". He was pretty indignant about the whole suggestion. I recall thinking he was funny to be so upset, but he took the job of dad seriously. He did everything he could to let the girls know that he loved and supported them.

On this first Father's Day without Mitchell, I honor him by remembering all they ways he was a remarkable father.

epic fail

Mitchell's experimental treatment appears to have been just that.  He was officially taken off the gleevec and celebrex protocol as it was not having any impact on the cancer's growth.  He is being discharged from UMC this morning with 2 different types of morphine in pill form to help him with pain management.  There is talk of enrolling him in a clincial trial sometime this week, but first he needs to meet with Dr. Brown to go over whatever it is they need to review. 

I'm hoping the clincial trial administers the chemo through infusion.  Mitchell hasn't had much success with pills so far.  I'm also hoping that this episode helps to remind my spouse to be more responsive to the signals he gets from his body.  For people in his situation, things don't usually just "go away". 

yikes

Mitchell's face looks a LOT like this guy's today (minus the gauged ears and whiteness and non-receding hairline). He can barely open his mouth. When I asked him how he felt, he said, "Fine" through clenched teeth. When I asked him if he wanted some prescription grade ibuprofen, he refused (duh, why'd I even ask?). When I asked him if he had a dental appointment, he just looked at me with that dull, dead-eyed shark look he gets when I ask him a question he's not ever going to answer.

Anyone wanna take bets on how long it takes him to get to a dentist? I'm counting on at least a week, probably more like 2.

male sensibility

There are many inherent differences between men and women (duh). One of the most glaring being a man's unwillingness, nay...inability to take medication when the situation calls for it. Clearly it's much more sensible to drag ass around the house, irritating all who come in contact with you because you won't do something as simple as taking an couple of freakin' ibuprofen. Of course I can see how you'd rather be up most of the night groaning in pain and shifting around heavily in the bed, keeping whoever else is trying to get a good night's sleep awake with your ailments. Only a crazy person would rather take something that would relieve the pain then remain inert on the couch after having decided to stay home from work (fantastic), periodically moaning in discomfort. I can see how all of that suffering is far superior to simply popping a couple of pills and going about your business like a normal human being.

construction workers

These guys must be super bored and/or lonely to react the way they do to any random female walking past. It doesn't matter if you're a 100, snaggle-toothed, one leg and a kick stand; they will drop whatever they're doing to ogle you while making those weird here-kitty noises. (You know what I'm talking about, someplace between a hiss and a whistle.) It doesn't matter if you try to scurry past unnoticed; the hammering ceases as soon as they spot you and here come the cat-calls. It helps to blast your iPod, drowning out all lewd foreign phrases. I personally employ the method of the cold glare. It doesn't stop them, but it prevents me from feeling like a 15 year old girl again. Sometimes I'm tempted to flip the bird, but common sense typically prevails and I refrain.