"Mom, they lied"...

For a couple of days it has been "business" as usual. Zack and Drake went for his radiation on Wednesday, once they returned Zack came by and was so upset, "Mom, they lied!", "They said I wouldn't have to be back until Monday and NOW they tell me I have to go back Friday morning." "Not only do I have to go back, I have to go to the third floor where I don't know anyone, and THEN if I need a blood transfusion, we have to go to the hospital, where I meet ANOTHER doctor that I don't know!"

Another piece to this puzzle is, we were scheduled to meet with a young man on Friday to look at his truck that he is selling. The time has already had to be rescheduled a couple of times due to his work schedule or ours. We had it all set up for tomorrow at 10, right in the middle of the time he was to get his transfusion. We managed to work it out, well so we thought. 

I am at work and finish lunch early. I return to to the office and decided to go ahead and decorate for the Holidays. I call Zack who comes within 10 minutes with Drake. Together the three of us get everything put up including the outside lights and Christmas angel flag.  I have done this for six years now, so it is very easy to put together and with Zack being so tall, he just has to take the staple gun and hang up the decorations that go on the ceiling. By the time we open and hour and a half later the office is fully decorated, much to the Docs surprise. Going to the Biltmore House and seeing all the decorations really got me motivated!

It is the end of Wednesday and Zack is up at his friends house. He has just finished one of his major items for school so he is feeling better about his accomplishment. I am finished at work and head out to the grocery store to get everything for Thanksgiving dinner. Yup, I decided if they didn't have what I needed for the "traditional meal", we could eat spaghetti.  I was in luck though, they had everything I needed for a full Ham meal fit for an army. I still haven't figured out how to fix just enough, but the nice part, leftovers!!!

It is Thanksgiving! Zack spent the night at Drake's and has been invited to their grandparents house for lunch. I want him to have as much fun as possible, the distractions help him through the rough times. He stops by in the morning to give himself the Lovenox shot, gives me a big hug and is back out the door. I take my time getting the house in order, cooking and doing dishes in between watching a couple of pre recorded shows. Frank, who is still very weak and recovering from the flu, managed to clean up the leaves both off of the roof and ground. Once he was finished he had to stop and rest. I don't mind saying I am worried about him. He has always been very healthy, so not something I'm used to seeing.

 Everyone starts to arrive around 6 pm. Since it was decided at the last minute to do something, pretty much everyone had plans somewhere else, I just wanted to fix a dinner and anyone that could make it was welcome. Rhonda (sister), Mom, Jamey (sister in law) and her two kids (my niece and nephew came to join Frank, Zack and myself. As I said previously, there was enough food for and army, but we managed to out a dent in it all. Half way through the meal, Zack goes into his bedroom. He had told me earlier that he was tired, had a bad headache and knows they are going to give him blood. He knows his body well enough by now, he can tell . The kids go and hang out with him, playing video games and watching TV  A short while later, Frank goes to sit on the couch, he too has a headache and is tired. Within minutes he is sound asleep. Mom has been very quiet tonight. She looks at me with such sadness, she has had a hard day. I'm sure most of it is being tired. She was with us all day Tuesday from early in the morning for Zack's and then her Doctors appointment to late at night after the Biltmore party. She then went out yesterday with Louis and Celia for a wonderful lunch and then again tonight here. She was teasing that she has done more in three days than she has in a month. Rhonda worked today and will again work tomorrow morning to a sold out day, so they head out by 8:30 pm. Jamey helps me clean up and put up the leftovers. With big hugs from all three, they are out to the door by 9:30.  

Frank wakes up just in time to learn everyone has left. I explain that everyone understood and gave their love and a hug, Feeling really good about the day, I get ready to head to bed when I hear Zack yell out for me. I run into his bedroom and he has blood running  down his leg, a sock covered as well as the floor. He says "get me a washcloth NOW, please!!!" I run, grab a cloth, holler to frank and who is very good at this kind of "clean up". It turns out that his feet have been peeling a lot, evidently one section peeled and well, you can guess the rest. Frank took care and got the bleeding to stop (another issue because he is on blood thinners twice a day) wrapped up his foot and told him to wear different shoes for a couple of days. I head back into the room to check up on him and he is all of a sudden FURIOUS!!  He starts to hit his pillows and is screaming ENOUGH!! I'VE HAD ENOUGH!! I'M DONE!!!! Franks runs in to see what is going on and Zack says he just got a text from the guy that is selling his truck and he was called into work and can't meet with us. One thing we have learned about Zack's health, when his counts are low and he requires a blood transfusion, he gets the headaches, is tired and just plain feels rotten. THIS is when his temper comes out, even if it's just for a short moment, we must let him express his anger and he recovers very quickly. He then recovers physically when he is done with the transfusion. Frank tries to stop Zack as he goes outside, but I stop him and tell him to let Zack get the anger out, Frank is worried about his foot and I run outside to make sure he doesn't hurt himself. He grabs his golf club and beats it into the ground until it snaps in two. He then sits on the ramp, I sit behind him as he slowly starts to slow his breathing and get calmer. It is then that we come up with another alternative. I tell him that nothing has really changed. He couldn't drive the truck until Monday anyway when he would have to get the tag and he can still text the guy and ask if we can meet later tomorrow afternoon. He comes in, texts the man and received a response that we will be called when he gets off work tomorrow. I leave Zack alone so that he can process everything.  He comes to see me around thirty minutes later and is calm and ready for bed. He kisses me goodnight, says goodnight to Frank and heads off to bed. 

As I lay here thinking about the past few days, I give thanks to everyone that is a part of our Journey and am grateful that we made it through another day.