3:18 AM // I wake up because my head hurts. Ughhh. I have had this same headache for three days now! I’m able to get back to sleep though.
5:00 AM // My alarm goes off but I turn it off. I’m not feeling it today.
5:11 AM // Liam wakes up and asks me what day it is. He always wants to know that lately. Thankfully he goes right back to sleep.
5:25 AM // I drag myself out of bed. I sit down to my Bible reading, but I doze off a few times. Eventually I complete it, but I probably should have made coffee first.
6:00 AM // Make my breakfast and listen to the pray-as-you-go podcast. I sit down to eat at the table and then move back to my chair to read a canto of the Inferno.
6:30 AM // The kids are up. Meredith takes Ziggy to the couch and turns on Charlotte’s Web to watch. I finish my reading.
6:40 AM // Take a super quick shower, give the kids some cereal, then get myself ready for the day.
7:00 AM // Pack lunches, get the kids dressed, and leave.
7:20 AM // Dropoff at daycare. Liam is crying because his foot hurts; he stubbed his toe awhile ago and now his toenail is coming off. Thankfully his teacher tells him he can take his shoe off while they are inside, so he calms down. I take a few minutes to brush Meredith’s hair since she doesn’t let me do it at home. She has really bad dandruff right now so I think we are going to have to start up her scalp medication again (which I hate).
7:30 AM // Drive to work and listen to The Simple Show. I also Vox my friend Sarah.
7:50 AM // Arrive at work. It should be a regular infusion day for me. I’m working with Jenny, my second coworker. Usually Susan is here on Wednesdays too, but she is off on vacation.
8:00 AM // My first patient is here, so I get her back, settled, and access her port/draw blood since she is here for chemo. Then I document.
8:30 AM // My second patient is ready, so I get her set up. This is a blood transfusion so I go pick up the blood from the blood bank and start it.
9:15 AM // I’m at my computer documenting and checking email.
9:45 AM // Give chemo premeds to my first patient. Then I make coffee and grab a snack, but I don’t have time to eat it because a nurse from another department arrives to do training. A patient arrives for a port flush, and the nurse-in-training does it but I have to walk her through it and it takes a lot longer than usual.
11:00 AM // I start chemo on my first patient, then go to the blood bank to switch to the second unit of blood for my other patient. Document and finally eat my snack and drink my lukewarm coffee.
12:05 PM // Switch my patient to her second bag of chemo, then eat lunch and read.
12:45 PM // I have some time to wait. I pace around the unit for awhile trying to get my Fitbit steps up.
1:15 PM // Discharge my chemo patient, then discharge my blood transfusion patient. Clean rooms, finish documenting, and make sure everything is ready to go for tomorrow. Pace around some more.
2:45 PM // Leave work. Overnight the weather dropped at least 20 degrees and it is cool and cloudy. On the way home I listen to The Simple Show. At home I check the mail and am excited to see the Magnificat my friend Meg sent me. I do the 7-minute workout, then David comes home. He left work early because of a bad headache. We talk for a few minutes, then he goes to lie down.
3:45 PM // School pickup! The kids are in decent moods. Wednesday is the only night when we don’t have any plans or obligations, and that can be a good or bad thing. We get back home and they are excited because David is home. They watch Sofia the First on TV and I give them a snack of chips and fruit, then I start right in on making dinner. It’s a new recipe for me, chicken parmesan.
5:00 PM // We sit down to eat dinner all together. I’m always crazy happy when this happens because it’s rare. David is usually at an AA meeting each evening, or we have plans. The meal is really good! Even the kids like it, even though we have to bribe Meredith to eat it.
5:40 PM // I serve dessert and then get Liam into the bath. Meredith does some math practice (she is supposed to do 15 minutes, four nights a week). Tonight she plays Pet Bingo on the iPad. I read while supervising Liam and then wash him off. Meanwhile David turned on Star Wars and falls asleep.
6:00 PM // I get Meredith into the shower, and Liam is just running around being crazy. I catch our cat River throwing up, so I have to clean that up. Meredith gave him a treat earlier and he has a sensitive stomach so I think that’s the reason. I spend some time on Voxer while I clean up the kitchen.
6:30 PM // Meredith is still in the shower, so I rest on my bed and do my Write the Word journal and read the day’s Magnificat. I wash Meredith’s hair and get her out of the shower (finally). The kids color for a little bit and I get myself ready for bed.
7:30 PM // It’s not that late but it feels like it because it’s been dark for awhile, so we get into bed and fall asleep quickly. I think we all needed the early night!
P.S. – Wednesday two years ago and three years ago.