7:17am: I try to sneak out of the hotel room to go work in the lobby somewhere, but Josh says that he's ready to get up. I go downstairs and get two breakfasts to go; Josh asks for eggs, sausage and orange juice. The hotel caters well to the MD Anderson crowd with special rates, free shuttles to and from any location nearby, and an understanding food serving staff who regularly accommodates folks who aren't well enough to sit at a table and eat. When I arrive back in the room with the breakfast tray, Josh is watching HGTV. He eats up the eggs, most of the sausage and only some of the juice (Gatorade is working much better for hydration). He makes comments throughout the HGTV shows (as always), either agreeing with the choices or expressing his disdain for bad choices.
9:30am: Josh is driven to work since he's on a tight schedule to complete a few projects in the next week or so. He sits up in bed with his laptop on his knees and works to finalize a design on Microvellum. He looks good, but his skin is warm to the touch, he occasionally feels nauseous, and has over-productive salivary glands.
10:13am: Josh eats the biscuit and honey that I brought him as an extra from breakfast. He's not really interested in working, but is pushing himself to complete the design so he can send it over to the cut-out shop for finalization. I suggest some more HGTV, but he says it's boring and repetitive. He continues to work (as do I). We have late check-out so we don't have to leave until 2pm when we head over to his acupuncture appointment.
10:27am: Josh closes his laptop after sending off the final design. Off goes the lights for a mid-morning nap.
12:57pm: Josh wakes up groggily and requests some lunch. I take a trip to a nearby Kroger and pick him up some fruit, a chicken pot pie and a Gatorade (which is tasting much better to him than water right now). He's not particularly hungry and says that his stomach feels so weird that he's not sure whether to add food to it or not. He gets at least some of it down.
2:00pm: We check out of the hotel and I drop Josh off for his acupuncture appointment at the Place of Wellness at MD Anderson (who provide all sorts of integrative medicine options for patients and family members). I have to go pick up Josh's pillow which we forgot in the treatment room last night and also go by the pharmacy there in the hospital to pick up his Emend prescription (which is supposed to help with the nausea). Then I realize that I forgot two of Josh's Gatorades back in the hotel room's refrigerator so I trek back there before coming back to pick Josh up.
4:00pm: Josh's acupuncture took a bit longer today so we're finally on the road back up to his folks' farm to pick up Ethan and then head to Dallas. Traffic is awful. It's start and stop quite a ways up I45, so Josh isn't comfortable lying down in the back of the van in the bed I've made him again (he'll get too nauseous - as if my driving wasn't enough to cause that).
5:28pm: We're on the road to Dallas after a very brief "hello, how are you?" with Josh's family. Kate is staying for a week with Grammy and Papa (she absolutely loves the time) so it's just the three of us. Ethan and I talk quietly in the front seats while Josh lies down on the couch cushions in the back. I think he's sleeping because it's so quiet, but occasionally he'll comment on something that Ethan and I are talking about.
7:01pm: We stop to get Ethan some dinner (I'm not hungry, nor is Josh, really). Josh does take a bite of Ethan's sandwich, but that's all he wants - a bite. He sleeps the majority of the ride back home, as does Ethan, who seems particularly tired.
9:43pm: We arrive back and home and the boys immediately head to bed. I have an indoor soccer game to play at 10:24pm tonight, so I quickly get dressed and head out in the van again.
11:54pm: Long day. Long two days, actually. I reflect on my way home from the soccer game that we left our house just yesterday (albeit at 4:00am). It seems like MUCH longer than that. I'm glad tomorrow is Saturday.
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