Monday, September 15, 2008

Nerves of Rubber

I tell ya, I always claimed to be unaffected by stress, that I could distance myself enough from it that it would never affect me, but I have come to realize that I just never have been in a stressful situation till now. I am covering the gamut of emotions right now, fear, sadness, happiness, anger, you name it, I am living it. 

Lets see, Tami had her scan today, at this point she is well into this chemo and it is starting to take its toll, her counts are taking a beating and its emotionally draining on her to boot. Now she has a scan, which I get to give her the results on tomorrow. Depending on how it turns out it could change the course of her treatment. Of course this is nothing new, every scan seems to be so pivotal. But as time goes on, it just seems to be more so. Since we started going to Chicago, I get to be the first to see the reads, I get to give her the results, on one hand I wouldn't have it any other way, on the other hand I don't want to be the bearer of bad news either. I feel really good about this scan, I cant say why, but I do. I just hope my gut feelings are right for a change.

Coming up on Friday, I get to have an honor that I never thought I would get to have. I get to walk my step-daughter down the aisle as she gets married. I cant put into words how honored and touched I am that she is letting me be part of this, even when I met her for the first time and we seemed to hit it off so well, I never imagined that I would be so close to her that she would allow me to do this. I am very proud of her, how she has handled herself thru everything. I am actually kinda getting nervous about it now, I mean I had a fumble during my own marriage (with my wawfully wedded wife :) ) I hope don't mess up this time. or worse, cry down the aisle like Tami thinks I am going to. :P

The economy sucks right now, and looking at how slow things are right now. Work is bracing for the worst of it, and it makes for some tough times. Top that all off with everything else going on and you have a wonderful stress sundae. I love my job and what I do, but times like this make it tough, I know I just have to push thru and things will work out. 

Its been super having my parents down here, and I can almost breath a little easier during the day knowing they are at home with Tami. Its going to suck saying goodbye to them on Sunday morning as it always is, and I know it will be 100 times worse for Tami cuz I know having someone there with her is a huge help.

All I can do now is try to be a better husband/step-father/person each day. Try and manage my stress levels so that I can take care of what is important. Somedays its tough, but luckily I have such a great example of strength in Tami to look up to, I just hope somedays she is proud of me as I am of her everyday.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Having been a caretaker myself, I learned the hard way the importance of taking care of yourself first -- sounds selfish, but you're no good as a caretaker if you get sick. And taking care of yourself means you need to manage stress. If you've ever meditated, make it a daily part of your stress management routine; if you didn't, you need to learn. Doing any kind of cardio (run, bike, climb stairs) is also crucial to keep you in shape for your duties. Both these will relieve stress and increase the effectiveness of your immune system; they give you more energy too so you can actually get more done.
As for the wedding day, plan ahead what you would do in case something goes wrong -- that way you will be less stressed.

Oh, and don't forget to enjoy yourself. :)

Anonymous said...

Norm:
I met Ron Herber for lunch today, asked how you were doing and he sent me the link for Tami's benefit. Just wanted to let you know I was thinking of you and praying for you guys.....I will see you a the benefit.

Dan McGuire