What a Week.....

Quite the dramatic few days, beginning shortly after my last blog entry was posted, which is why I haven't posted since. It all seems to be OK now, but, my goodness.....

1) We got a call Tuesday morning from the school nurse; Peter hurt his finger playing basketball in gym class -- the right pinky. I'll skip the full details of the day, but an x-ray revealed that it was broken. He saw an orthopedist Wednesday morning, who confirmed it was broken, and said he'd need surgery, which he had this morning. The doc put in a couple of pins to help set the bone. He's in a temporary full hand cast and sling until next week, when he'll get a new (and we hope smaller) cast. That will stay on for 5 weeks, and then he may need a splint for a while after that.

This means that his basketball season is over, and it's unlikely he'll play piano in the Connecticut Young Musicians Festival in March. Plus, he'll miss his audition tomorrow for All-State Jazz Band, which he had a real shot at making.

The optimistic view of his music setbacks: he's got another year to audition for Jazz Band, and because he held such a high chair in the Symphomic Band last year, they'll reserve a seat for him this year without his having to audition, so he may still be able to play the concerts at Lincoln Center in NYC and at the Old State House in Hartford later in the spring.

Overall, he's in good spirits, though he's been home for two hours and he's already saying he's bored.

2) As Isabel was driving Peter home from the radiology place on Tuesday, she got a call that her mom had slipped on ice that morning and had broken her shoulder. Again, I'll skip the details, but she had surgery on Thursday afternoon, and it went well. She's got some rehab and physical therapy ahead of her, but reports from Maryland are that she's doing OK.

Keep her in your thoughts. And, as always, keep the caretakers in your thoughts, too. Isabel has been comforted with the knowledge that her sister, niece, and a couple of brothers are close by to help out, but she's still been very stressed out with the Trifecta she got this week. Because, of course...

3) I had my second round of Rituxan this morning. Naturally, Peter's surgery was scheduled for this morning, so Isabel was with him, and my mom came down to take me to the oncologist. (As much as she would love the ability, Isabel just couldn't be in three places at once -- a hospital in Maryland, a hospital in New Haven, and a doctor's office in Orange. Elastigirl from The Incredibles is her idol.)

This week's Rituxan infusion was much less interesting than last week's. It took about three hours altogether (2 less than the first round), with no reactions at all. In fact, the combination of the Benedryl and a lack of sleep this week pretty much knocked me out. I think I was awake for maybe an hour of the three hours that I was there. And I'm still tired.

Isabel's big decision, now that her mother, husband, and first-born all seem to be doing OK, is whether or not to nap first and then get drunk, or the reverse. As I look to my right, I see her asleep on the couch, so I guess that decision has been made. Once she gets John and Catherine from school, however, I'm guessing she'll move on to part 2.

Spread your positive thoughts and prayers around this week.