All quiet on the western front . . .

Bob's back home, discharged this afternoon, yea!!!!!! I'm so happy to have him here with us again. I miss him so much when he's gone, end up doing a whole lot of nothing when he's in the hospital, like a big part of me, sucked right out . . . Even though our lives are oddly disrupted right now—nothing is as we once knew it and we don't know when it will be given back, at the mercy of so many unknowns—it is still so comforting, so peaceful when he's here with me and the dogs. We don't—we can't—do much of anything together because of his condition, but just being at home together is our time. We just "hang . . ." we talk, we watch the Food Network, maybe a movie, sit in the quiet of the living room, dark except for the glow of my holiday tree shining in on us from the screened deck . . .

Bob will be home with us, uninterrupted, for a day. I say "us," meaning me and the pups, who also miss him when he's gone. During Bob's absence, Gaia will walk to the front door to be let outside, where she lies on the front sidewalk, head resting on her front paws, at times sleeping, other times looking off into the distance, as if waiting for Bob's return. She'd stay outside all day, all night, till Bob came back, if I let her. Rocco doesn't seem to notice much that Bob's gone, until he returns. Then, he's all over Bob, sniffing, jumping, grabbing a toy to get a game of tug-o-war on.

Monday is the one day this week I get Bob to myself. Not sure what we'll do. Watch a movie? Take a short walk in the neighborhood? Maybe take Bob and his handicap parking permit and head out to the mall . . . hehehe. . . He's been craving fish and chips for several days now, so perhaps I'll hunt some down for dinner tomorrow night. Don't know of any English pubs (or even a Long John Silver's for that matter) nearby, which may be a problem . . . the day will pass much too quickly. . . Then it's back to the U every day for the rest of the week: Tuesday, he goes in for a CT scan, to find out how the tumor is responding to the chemo. Wednesday, he meets with Doc S., to go over the results of the CT scan, to discuss how things are progressing and what is in store for the coming weeks (we wanted to try to consolidate those appointments, to make things a tad easier, but they need time to process the scan results. Thursday and Friday brings two outpatient infusion sessions of chemo, the same drugs Bob had in the beginning.

Bob slept much of the day when we got back from the hospital. I finished my Sunday "stuff" while he napped: laundry, walking the dogs, grocery shopping, changed the decorations on the tree from Valentines to shamrocks. Bob said he feels like he can handle pretty much any food right now, and asked if I'd pick up some grilled shrimp and rice at Applebee's when I was out. He craves the oddest things lately, but I'm happy to comply. This round of chemo seemed to have the fewest and least severe side effects so far, if you don't count annoying roommates as a side effect.

I'd love nothing more than to hear the doc say, on Tuesday, that the tumor is responding better than they'd expected to the chemo, and that it looks like Bob is ready for surgery. Even though, with that, will likely come a whole host of new adventures . . .

peace, love and shamrocks, all!