We are in Shutesbury

Today is "Savanna Day." We got up early this morning (c. 6:45a.m.), made a quick breakfast (consumed mostly in the car), and drove down to Shutesbury. This is the day Savanna has both radiation and a chemo infusian, and has to be driven to Springfield to the Bay State Hospital Clinic where they do these procedures. Ellen has offered to do that on Thursdays, allowing Katie to have a break and do other things. I come along for the ride, and stay at the house while Ellen and Savanna go to Springfield. They have WiFi here, so it gives me a chance to do things on the Internet without using up data on the phone. If everyone feels up for it, we may stay this evening to watch the first game between the Celtics and the Warriors in the NBA finals. However, it doesn't start till 9p.m. Eastern time, so it would make for a very late night getting home. Tomorrow we plan to go to Concord to see Jerome. This is a critical time for him. We met last Tuesday with his Palliative Care doctor, Dr. Abby L'Heureux, and while we were there, she got Jerome's son, Najee, on the phone, and walked him through the care options Jerome is facing, essentially falling into two categories, Palliative Care and Comfort Care. It is esentially the difference between taking measures to keep someone alive and comfortable (Palliative) and keeping someone comfortable but allowing nature to take its course and thus allowing them to die if that's what is naturally happening (Comfort Care). Najee wasn't quite emotionally ready for Comfort Care, though he sees that it is probably inevitable. So they are trying some things this week and will reassess everything tomorrow. We were there to help Jerome navigate all that if needed, though he was asleep most of the time. So this is a difficult, emotional time. On top of that, I lost my billfold sometime during the trip to Concord. I think it just slipped out of my hip pocket at some point. So yesterday, I had to make all the calls one has to make when that happens. Bummer! We were quite impressed with Dr. Abby L'Heureux. She was so patient and sensitive as she talked with Najee, and clearly cares for her patients and their families very much, and wants to respect their wishes. I brought a copy of the book I put together a year or so ago about Jerome, and gave it to her, and she was so appreciative of that. She said that was a first for her. She also was very struck by the photo on the cover, which showed a much more physically robust person than the one she was seeing. Jerome has lost a lot of weight. So, we are dealing with a lot right now. Fortunately, we have each other and can manage.

Dr. Abby L'Heureux. We actually never got to see her without a mask on.

The cover of the book about Jerome