First Week

I cannot believe it is Friday already. The last 7 days have flown by. This is Bev. Let me catch you up on some things Ken has missed in his blog. First, I am so excited and happy that Ken is doing so well. He really hasn't had much trouble with the chemo so far. The first day was a little tough, but only for an hour. The rest of the day was fine. Ken had 1 night that he was asleep at 6:00, but the rest of the nights, he has felt great and has been up helping me get settled in. We have been to the store numerous times to stock the refrigerator. We can't shop all in the same day because of the per Diem we are allowed each day. We want the insurance to cover as much as they can.

We had a nice evening on Wed. Our son Jeff came over, I cooked dinner, he helped us move furniture in the apartment, hooked up our Wii and played cards. It was a fun night. It felt normal. Ken and I loved it.

We are staying pretty close to Cherry Creek Mall. We found a new route to the RMCC that isn't driving on Colorado Blvd. It is a little prettier and not quite as busy. But we are glad we don't still live in Denver and have to drive in this everyday.

Our apartment is ok. It is small, but easy to get to. They have cable and HBO, so we have lots of TV to watch. Luckily, there are 2 TV's. I didn't have to miss Grey's Anatomy last night. Yeah. We have a living room, kitchen, bedroom with a king size bed and a bathroom. Our room overlooks the Cherry Creek. It seems quiet as well.

Ken has had the hiccups most nights, but not to bad. At least they aren't making him throw up. I'm so thankful. They say he may not get really sick till day +5, so we may have another week of feeling ok. I can't imagine doing this and being stuck in a hospital room. Ken feels way to healthy to be stuck in a room. We are doing ok.

Ken is an awesome guy. The first day we were here, I overheard the receptionist talking on the phone asking for men's hats. The center gets lots of women's hats that people knit and make, but they get very few men's hats. I mentioned it to Ken, thinking maybe we could donate one of his famous hats. But he said, "Maybe Stephanie can help." Steph, our daughter, used to work for Zephyr hats. She put us in contact with the owner of Zephyr Hats and as of this afternoon, they have already shipped 160 hats to the Rocky Mountain Cancer Center. Can you believe that? Just from overhearing the need, we were able to get them all these hats. The receptionist told us that every day she hears from guys that they wish they had guys hats to chose from. These hats will probably be baseball style hats from college and hockey teams. This will be great for the guys that come here for treatment. The CSU Bookstore sells Zephyr hats. The cancer center is very grateful. It's a blessing.

And here is the coolest thing Ken hasn't yet told you about. Our granddaughter and her parents sent Ken a book last week. There were instructions not to open it till Ken started Chemo, so we brought it to the cancer center last Monday. The book is a calendar countdown with 8 X 10 pictures of Norah. The instructions say that we can only look at 1 page a day. It has been tempting, but we are doing just that. Norah and Katy and Mark are coming to see us for Christmas. So each picture has the date with 39 days till I see my Grandpa. It is so sweet. Each picture also has a famous quote that goes with the picture. So I will recount what we have seen so far.
Title is "World's Greatest Photo Album Calendar Ever Created"
Page 1, November 16, 39 days till I see my Grandpa. It is a picture of Katy and Norah in the first day that she was born. Quote "Every Child begins the World again." Henry David Thoreau
Page 2, November 17, 38 days till I see my Grandpa. The picture is of Ken holding a sleeping tiny Norah, the first time we saw her when she was just a few weeks old. Ken is looking at Norah. Quote "Tell me who admires you and loves you, and I will tell you who you are." Charles Augustin Sainte-Beauve
November 18, 37 days till I see my Grandpa. The picture is of Bev holding a sleeping Norah during our first visit last December. We are sitting on a couch and Ken is leaning on Bev's shoulder. All three of us are resting with our eyes closed. Quote "I will give you peace and quietness." - I Chronicles 16:11
November 19, 36 days till I see my Grandpa. The picture is of Ken holding a grinning Norah. Ken is smiling at her and showing her his coke can. Quote "Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." Robert Brault
November 20, 35 days till I see my Grandpa. The picture is of Ken with Norah in his lap. He is touching her tiny head and she is looking at the camera. Quote "Children represent God's most generous gift to us." James Dobson
November 21, ..... can't look yet. It isn't the 21st. Man we want to look ahead. But it will be fun to see each picture each day. I'll try to blog and include the info on the calendar.

So today, Ken and I had our last little outing. Since Ken was feeling well, we left the cancer center at 10:30. We went to our apartment for lunch and then went to a movie at the Cherry Creek Mall. We barely made it back to the cancer center by 2:30, but it was worth it. We saw the new Blind Side movie that came out today. It was excellent. Especially nice knowing it was based on a true story. It was great. We recommend it.

Tomorrow, Ken may have to get a blood transfusion. We are not sure. If he does, we will spend the morning in the cancer center and the afternoon in the hospital. We are hoping that he doesn't need the transfusion till Sunday. We are planning to Skype with our Granddaughter in the afternoon to watch her birthday party. It will be so fun to see her eat her first cake. She was walking last time we skyped. We love seeing her. Can't wait till we get to hold her again.

Ken is almost done with his afternoon chemo, so bye for now. God Bless everyone and safe travels to you and your loved ones over the Thanksgiving holidays.