Friday, January 10, 2014

Moments

Wednesday Evening

We go to the bar mitzvah of the son of good friends. It's in Petach Tikva, just moments away from the hospital. Two volunteers sit with Adi at Schneider so that Guy and I can both go to the party. I gorge on sushi and hug friends I haven't seen in months. And then Ram, the bar mitzvah boy, gets up to speak. At the end of his speech, he wishes a full and speedy recovery to his grandfather, who suffers from ALS, and to his "good friend, Adi Perets, the big hero we all love," and I burst into tears. I hug Ram and his mother, my good friend, Gazit, and feel grateful to have friends like these.

Late Wednesday Night

I return to the hospital to sleep, but Adi is awake, and talks all night about the garbage truck he wants me to buy. It's white and orange and it has a lifting arm. I close my eyes, and Adi leans over and strokes my forehead. "It's okay, Mommy," he says. "You can buy the garbage truck soon."

Thursday Afternoon

I get home early after not sleeping at the hospital. I get Yoni and Amit through their baths and into pajamas, and I convince them to come to bed with me... at 7pm. We sleep.

Friday Afternoon

One of the nurses, Hadas, who has become a friend, brings us cake just before Shabbat. I am delighted, and it's really not about the cake.

Friday Evening

Adi and the little girl he is rooming with, Gaya, are sleeping. Gaya's mother, Rony, a kibbutznikit from the northern part of Israel, joins us for Shabbat dinner. We sit and talk and laugh, and it's almost like a normal Friday night meal. For a few minutes, we forget where we are and what brought us together, we're just three people talking and laughing. There is a LOT of laughing, and it does us all good.

Saturday Morning

Thanks to the blood gushing from his mouth and nose, Adi looks like a vampire after a meal, as one of the other parents so aptly termed it. This becomes my new favorite phrase, and I use it no less than 20 times in the next 24 hours.

Saturday Night

Guy and the girls go to a bat mitzvah in Beit Shemesh, and I stay with Adi in the hospital. I watch approximately 7 episodes of The Mindy Project and literally laugh out loud. Which feels strange, but also nice.

Sunday Morning 

We learn that one possible cause of Adi's fever is herpes simplex. Rony tells me that I can keep the bottle of wheat germ oil we've been sharing -- we spray it on gauze pads and dab it on our kids' lips to help get rid of their mouth sores. I can't stop laughing when I realize why she's giving it to me.

Sunday Afternoon

I start getting emails from people who are concerned that I have not posted in several days. I make a mental note to post to my blog later on.

Monday Morning

We go to see the ENT because Adi had another nosebleed. The doctor asks me, "So, before the leukemia, was he... normal?" I can't formulate a good response on the spot, but when I retell the story later, I have some great comebacks. I am GREAT in the replays of my life. I answer more concerned emails and promise to update the blog.

Tuesday Morning

They tell us we can go home later in the day -- how unexpected! But they tell us we'll be back in the outpatient clinic on Thursday for treatment, and checking in again Saturday night. We spend the rest of the day planning to leave. I tell Rony to make sure to save us our spot. (It's taken just hours after we leave.) I think about blogging when I get home, but I get balloons for Yoni's birthday and go to sleep instead.

Wednesday

We sleep, Adi and I. We sleep a lot. And yet I am still tired. (My father told me, "When Adi is better, you'll be better.") Adi's madricha Lilach stops by and wins a huge smile. I can't remember where my laptop is, so I don't blog.

Thursday

We go to the outpatient clinic for treatment. The treatment is an hour, with two and a half hours of blood pressure monitoring afterwards. We arrive shortly after 8 in the morning and do not leave until 6pm. I thought about taking my laptop with me, but instead I watched Downton Abbey.

Friday Morning

Adi is lying on the sofa, and I can hear his pre-vomit sounds. "Mommy, can I please have a little Zofran?" he asks. I give him some, cook for Shabbat, run food over to the hospital to Rony, come back, and sit down to finish this post.

4 comments:

M said...

I love you. Shabbat Shalom. I wish I could bring you a cake. Maybe I'll mail you one.

Ayala said...

Hey Abbi,

We miss you guys like crazy, and wish we could be nearby. It's heartwarming to hear that you have such great supportive friends.

Crystal T. said...

I'm glad to hear you guys are out of the hospital! I hope you get some peace before the next visit.

Mold Removal Fort Wayne said...

Great ppost thankyou