Where did the year go?

Has it really been 9 months since I posted? Yes, it has. What a lot a "stuff" has happened so far. I have a hard time comprehending it all sometimes!! Let me see if I can capsulize things. Maybe on a month to month basis.

February - dh is learning to live with the changes that are occuring in his body since the first chemotherapy shot he got in January: Hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings. Oh, and I am learning to live with them too. It is funny, I have had these for years, but seeing it in someone you are close to is harder.

March and April - rather status quo months. Life proceeded as usual, with me continuing to be a travel nurse, quilting when I can. Finished two quilts. One for a co-worker, an irish chain that a friend and I worked on together, and another one just for me. This one was a red/white/black quilt that I saw on the cover of a magazine years ago, and had to make one just like it. It is now residing in the guest bedroom.

One special thing that happened in March was a visit from friends from PA that we had become reaquainted with in January. Old Army friends from Germany, circa 1972. They came for a too short 5 days, but promised to return.

May - dh received shot number two. The first few days are always the worst, when the amount is the most intense, I guess.

June - we had our 2nd visit with the oncologist, who planned to start chemo by the fall. We were supposed to go for a "marking" session (read TATTOO) and ultrasound to pinpoint that, in the first week of September. But more fun things happened, and that did not.

August 28 - I flew to Las Vegas for my yearly visit with best friend J.
August 29 - Received call from dd asking which hospital to take her daddy to. He had had a stroke. Life as we knew it, changed.

Flew home from LV and all the help that had arrived to take care of things while I was gone, all disappeared, leaving me to handle everything on my own. The first few days were overwhelming, but we made it through. God was very good, and dh had no lasting paralysis, but there was marked balance and coordination problems. Home health was started, but it was determined that he needed to come in for outpatient therapy to a facility where they had equipment to deal with his particular needs. So we started PT, 3 times a week. Our daughter that lives here locally, was a help, whenever she could be, but she also has a demanding job and is in a supervisory position.

I had myself put on FMLA. My Director of nursing had told me that I could use my short term disability to stay home and take care of family, but a week later, I found out that was not true. I began the search for an in-town job, and found one immediately. Again, God is good. I stayed on FMLA for a month, running dh back and forth, and taking care of things here at home. Meanwhile, our friends from PA came back for a week, helped me with things here while I went to a two day orientation at my NEW job. My NEW job happens to be where I worked before I became a travel nurse. So the work environment and even most of the people, are not new to me. Only thing is, I had to start on nights, as if I were a young thing right out of nursing school! You know, "doing my time". But I am not a young thing anymore, and this is a challenge. But I am told after the new year, I will be back on day shift.

Well, that brings us up to October!