One and done

If I could pick one word to describe the mood chez Wells lately, the word would be TIRED.  We are all, for one reason or another, pretty fatigued around here.  The kids are tired from being kids: swimming, playing on the zip line, running around like crazy, and spending every waking moment outside.  We have had some wonderful visits with friends and family in the last couple of weeks as well.  I'm tired from keeping all of the proverbial balls in the air and from simply being around all of the kid activity.  And T?  T is tired from the pesky poison that has been running through him for the last five weeks.  

This last week, especially the weekend, was a difficult one for T.  The fatigue has built up over the weeks, and it's completely overwhelming at this point.  Unfortunately, the fatigue doesn't dissipate with even a full night's sleep, and one of the lovely effects of the chemoradiation is that T rarely sleeps more than three hours at a time anymore.  I know he is looking forward to these next recovery weeks so he can hopefully get more comfortable and manage to get some decent REM sleep.  

Along with the physical fatigue comes the mental fog.  It's hard to concentrate for very long, and the lack of sleep doesn't exactly help anything.  He tends to feel guilty that he isn't helping out more around the house or doing more with the kids.  No matter how many times I tell him that he has to rest, he resists until he literally cannot stand to be vertical any longer.  

But today, y'all, today is the day.  Today is the LAST day of this round of chemoradiation.  This is the last time for a little while that T will have to go into Chicago for his radiation treatment, and the last day he will have to swallow the horrible chemo pills.  Written down, it doesn't seem like such a big deal, but believe me when I tell you that we have all been waiting for this day for weeks.  Finally, T's body will have a chance to really rest and begin the healing process.  He'll need this time to physically and mentally prepare for surgery and the next round of chemo to come...but we're not going to think about that right now.  Instead, we're going to reconnect as a family and hug each other a lot.  It's time to think about school starting and Dallas's upcoming birthday and enjoying some much needed time together.  We'll get a chance to enjoy the now instead of always counting down the days until the end of treatment.  And that right there is something to celebrate.