Shelter from the Storm

I'm getting into the habit that the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is to reach for the phone and check the temperature.

You'd think 9 degrees would be freezing (well, it is) and that I would bundle up to go outside, but to let the dogs out and then stand on the patio to take a photo it's fine, even in my stocking feet, though I wouldn't want to stand there for a very long time.

The snow is all still on the ground, but there are bare patches now.  Still the trees are laden with snow and look so pretty,

This afternoon, I watched a bunch of these birds trying (mostly unsuccessfully) to fly in the wind which is blowing large amounts of snow off of the roofs.

They finally gave up and a bunch of them grouped together among the branches of this bush.  It was difficult to see them in the viewfinder of my camera, so I was only able to get one at a time, but there were actually at least four all huddled together, nestled down as far as they could get in the leaves, feathers fluffed up to insulate them against the wind.

Peach also spied a fox on the ground opposite the house, but I didn't get there in time to see it.

There is also a lot of static electricity in the air.

With all this cold weather, we were off to the Cancer Center for treatment #2 this morning.  This is how you dress to go out in 9 degree weather.

This was a frustrating morning.  The anti-diarrheal meds seemed to kick in yesterday afternoon and she was actually able to eat. 

but then the diarrhea was back again.  This is all so overwhelming for everyone, especially Peach, who only discovered a breast lump a little over a month ago and has since had numerous scary tests and procedures, including having her breast removed and now she is having toxic chemical pumped into her body with uncomfortable, painful, terrible side effects.  She has lost about 20 lbs in this time. 

And Bob, god love him, wants so much to help, but doesn't understand what is going on and all he knows is he wants a magic pill to bring his wife back.  She is trying to hard to hold everything together, but it's so difficult.

The one big thing she has going for her is a support system. I am here, of course, but so are her daughter, son-in-law, grandson and his fiancee.  At least two of us are with her for every exam and every procedure.  This morning there were four of us and the nursing staff seemed surprised at the size of her entourage, but were welcoming and brought enough chairs for all of us.

Kris got an appointment for her with her therapist, which I hope will help a lot in letting her have a safe place to deal with the emotional side of all of this.

In the "shelter from the storm" category, the doctor heard about all of her symptoms (and saw that her temperature was slightly elevated) and decided not to give her second chemotherapy treatment today.  Instead he is trying meds to cure the diarrhea first, so that we won't have to worry about adverse after effects of the chemo this week.  I hope that will give her a chance to stabilize and get a bit of strength back before she gets Round 2 next Monday.