Got home this afternoon after another three-day round of inpatient chemo. Happily this one was easy and quick. Easy roommates. Easy chemo. Matthew handled everything like a pro. He brought his guitar along and had several "gigs" (as he put it). Late into the night on Tuesday, he played for various visitors and the nighttime cleaning crew. During the day on Wednesday, he set up in the kitchen and played for the nurses and doctors on their rounds. Later in the day, he held a mini-concert by request in the children's playroom. Only problem was that the under-5 set didn't quite share Matthew's musical horizons. When asked what "artists" they listen to, the kids looked at him blankly. Finally, Matthew sang & played the Barney theme - something they recognized - and the kids all applauded.
Matthew seems to have no problem resuming normal life once he gets home. He walked in the door, played guitar for a while, then headed to a friend's house. As for me, I'm always disoriented after spending extended time in the hospital and it takes me a while to "re-enter." The hardest part isn't the lack of material comfort (sleeping in a chair, lack of space, not having a private bathroom), it's the loss of control and the endless waiting - waiting for a bed to open up so you can move into a room, waiting for the chemo to be sent up from the pharmacy, waiting for the doctors to write up the discharge orders, waiting for the nurses to disconnect the IV so we can go home. Everything takes three times longer than you expect - and the stress of sitting & doing nothing but waiting is exhausting.
