Six Chemo treatments. Six! That is how many Michelle would have to endure before her body could get a real break. I mean, Michelle did get a reprieve from the effects of chemo usually beginning the Sunday after each Monday morning chemo treatment. But we always knew it would only last a week or so before the whole cycle again.
Believe it or not, by about the third chemo treatment, we had already settled into a routine of sort. We would pack water, snacks, the Ipad and my Michael Sweet book. That was right about the time I took up reading to help pass the time while Michelle sat in the reclining chair for those three and a half hours. Of course I looked up from my book every few minutes to check on the love of my life. I would often let out a sigh of contentment when I saw that she was fine. Truth be told, she was always more calm than I was in those situations, often snacking of crackers while playing a game on her Ipad. It always did my heart good to see that she was fine. And it always went fine until about an hour and a half into treatment. That was when the nurse would administer a chemo drug that about halfway through would always make Michelle’s nose begin burning. And I would always know this because Michelle would always start twitching her nose. She would tell me that the feeling compares to getting swimming pool water up your nose. But instead of pool water only burning a minute or two, this burning can last a couple hours. I would usually start teasing her by asking if she was Samantha, from Bewitched. I would then think to myself if that were only true, I would have her twitch that little button nose of hers and send us both to Paris!
After finishing the half day of chemo treatment, we would always stop and pick up Whataburger. Even though we had a very limited budget, we always made sure to treat ourselves by stopping by Whataburger on our way home. It is always fascinating to me how you always remember even the smallest of things even when you’re going through a very difficult time in your lives. Each thing you do together becomes even more precious than it might be otherwise. You really do learn to take each day of your lives together a little slower. And what I mean is even though you want the treatments to hurry up and be behind us, we wanted to also spent every waking moment together making memories. As a man, this part has always been hard for me to explain. But as much as I have been in love with Michelle, it was during this time in our lives that I realized just how much. I would spend many of nights as she lay beside me in bed, just praying to God. Praying for her health. Praying that it be His will for Michelle to continue to be by my side here on earth. As I might have mentioned in an earlier post, Michelle falling ill to breast cancer not only brought me closer to her, but it also brought me closer to God. For years I had talked the talk. But I had fallen short of taking God’s hand and allowing Him to lead me down the path that He would have me. It still amazes me what we can can get through when we let God lead us. I know without a doubt that getting through any difficult time in our lives would not be possible without the presence of God. Again, I am blessed.