Day 35
For sickness or in health. Those are the vows I took 7 months ago. I have been thinking about that vow a lot lately. I have heard so many stories lately about spouses of cancer patients who could not handle the stress. The story ends with an ultimatum from the spouse stating they are leaving. So the last few nights I have been thinking about these stories. I agree that times could be stressful and caring for a patient is basically another job. However the situation isn’t planned and the likelihood of cancer is just as possible in me as anybody else out there. Remember that one in five people in this world will experience cancer. To top it all off, when you marry your spouse, it does not come with exclusions. This is the time I could show my wife how much I love her. This is why I vowed to be her husband. I will take care of her when she is sick and well, because if the roles were reversed, I’m sure she would do the same.
So Jackie and her mother wanted to go to Las Vegas this weekend for a mini vacation. At first I was very adamant about her leaving to go to sin city. However, with Jackie’s good spirits the last two days I wanted her to stay happy and go have fun. I felt very uncomfortable having her travel back and forth. The trip was still on until last night. I started weighing the risk and benefits of the situation. According to the doctors, chemo does not hit until two days after. They ask you to avoid public communities like movie theatres. I talked to my very understanding wife telling her that I feel the risk of going into a Vegas environment was far better than the benefits. It wasn’t worth 2 nights of mediocre fun for a possible infection.
Thank God that Jackie feels good and very healthy. Hopefully she gets a good nights rest and we can start tomorrow. Everyday is a new surprise for all of us.