Soap

Day -2: With the heavy chemo further in the rear view mirror Annie has started requesting any snack food that we can't get from the hospital's extensive collection.  We gladly comply but really it does seem she goes out of her way....  This is her snacking while watching a show, while she is watched by a nurse through that window.  There are rows of monitors on that pole as well as another and the nurse watches her and computer readouts for the first sign of reaction from her ATG.  This happens six hours a day from 10 AM - 4 PM.  Tomorrow is the last day of that.  She usually sleeps through the first two hours since she's busy keeping us awake at night.

Today has been a week in the hospital and we've begun to find our place in our new community.  We start sharing stories as do others with us.  We are now officially part of the soap operas playing out on our floor.  There was the patient who was discharged just in time to make it to prom, the math troubles of a staff person's child (I'm a magnet for math trouble stories), the ups and downs of the families in our neighboring rooms, and even budding romances.  Why just last night Annie and her visiting night nurse were up and giggling at 2:40 AM about the nurse's potential new flame.  Life goes on.