It’s been a pretty decent Thanksgiving.  It was great in that we spent time with some of my family that we haven’t seen in a long time.  We also participated (much more so than anticipated) in a once-in-a-lifetime, over-the-top Bangladeshi wedding celebration/reception.  The holidays were not so great in that the battle keeping food down rages on, even on Thanksgiving day.  The turkey gave its life for a mere 20 minutes of stomach-stuffing enjoyment.  In general, Maggie just feels yucky and tired all the time.

For all the car miles we traveled since Tuesday (around 800!), the rides went great, especially considering that barely two weeks ago even short car rides around town were very uncomfortable if not painful.  Despite the negative emotional sentiment attributed to the pain pump, it’s doing its job handily.  Go, pump!  We do, however, hope that we can attribute a significant portion of that comfort not to the increase in medication but to results from last week’s visit to MD Anderson.  Monday we will test that theory.

Taking baths seem to be the one happy haven.  The warmth of the water or maybe the buoyancy provides a Maggie a place to relax for as long as she feels like hanging out.  We are blessed to have a quite large bathtub in which she can and does soak for hours.  She tests the limit of our hot water heater with each bath but, fortunately, it heats up more water quickly.  I’m just happy that such a simple solution gives her a break from or at least diminishes discomfort.

As always, thank you all for the kind words, thoughts, prayers and gifts.  And for the messages of encouragement you give and advice you offer up.  Maggie and I truly appreciate everything you do.