Thanksgiving

I've been pondering the last few days about the past year and what I am thankful for - and the list seems endless. Mostly, it is the people in our lives - those that keep in constant contact and those I don't even know are somehow connected - that I'm most thankful for...all those angels here on earth. I supposed I tend to think of angels more around this time of year, but we really seem to be surrounded lately.

Nick and his sisters had a wonderful time spending Thanksgiving at their dad's with their aunts and uncles, cousins and friends. Lee and I took off to southern Utah to spend time with Lee's family, which was also a special time with family. We arrived home around midnight Thanksgiving night. Friday morning, Nick called me to tell me he had a fever. As he drove home from his dad's house (about 30 minutes away), I called the hospital to get a bed for him on the 4th floor and packed his bags. His fever only reached 101.4 and by the time he got checked in with antibiotics and Tylenol, his fever dropped to normal. He will be here until he can go 24 hours with having a fever. It has been going up and down a little bit - not too bad.

I'm so thankful he had the time to enjoy his family and FOOD. I'm also thankful we don't have to cancel anything due to this sudden hospitalization. One of our favorite docs on the floor came in to see Nick before we had even unpacked. She said, "Ok, what do you have going on this weekend that we have to hurry and fix you up for?" She was one of the docs that tried to get Nick healthy enough to go to the Mayweather/Marquez fight. Ironically, the last time he was hospitalized for neutropenic fever (which caused him to miss the fight) was when he had the same chemo he had this last time - exactly the same number of days when his counts crashed. I'm thinking we need to stop this treatment; could be me, but...

We also had a scare when he had a nasty bloody nose on Monday. We were sound asleep when Kelsey came knocking on our door about 11:45 p.m. She said, "Nick needs you." I raced downstairs to find him sitting on his bathroom floor, crossed legged, with his head over the toilet. I ran up behind him and saw blood everywhere; he couldn't get his nose to stop bleeding. With blood being my kryptonite, I broke out in a sweat, saw stars and felt nauseous. Lean on me, Nick, I've gotcha covered. Lee came down too, and while I was calling the hospital, Lee and Nick tried cold compresses, pressure on the bridge of the nose, etc. Docs told us to come in to get his nose packed, but Nick stalled, saying "just give me a few more minutes" At one point, the blood was flowing so fast, it sounded like someone was going potty. I was fully dressed with Nick's pj's in one hand, car keys in the other when he finally got it under control - took over an hour. Lee, bless his heart, brought down the paper towels and 409 to clean up the murder crime scene. We tucked Nick in the upstairs guest room next to ours so we could hear him if he got in trouble again. Apparently it was Kelsey that finally came to his rescue as he hollered for help. As I was giving him a kiss goodnight, avoiding the tissue stuck up his nostril for good measure, he grinned and said, "Mom, can you hear me now?" Then when I left to go to my room, he continued to say, very loudly, "Hey, MOM! I'm having a hard time in here!" "Hey, MOM! Can you hear me?" Then he'd chuckle - he's his own best audience, grinning ear to ear. We're a twisted, sordid family. And yes, I'm thankful for that, too!

Goodnight, my angel friends. Happy Thanksgiving

Lori