Home Sweet Home

We had been in the house for only 30 minutes before I had to call Gina in Pediatric Oncology with a dumb question about the feeding tube. It was essentially leaking everywhere which resulted in Michael carrying Sylvie and me following behind saying, "GROSS!" while holding a cup under the port to catch whatever was leaking. It really wasn't big deal.

Andy, Kitzchy and Samantha made a huge "WELCOME HOME SYLVIE" banner and arranged the biggest assortment of mylar Princess & Hello Kitty balloons that I've ever seen in the middle of our living room.

Just for the record, Sylvie did not want to come home. She was very content in her giant bed and TV. However she seemed genuinely excited to see Lucky and OJ who were equally thrilled to have Sylvie back. They eagerly await her uneaten meals. On that note, it's extremely important that Sylvie eats and drinks over the next three days because she will most likely not eat a morsel next Monday through Friday due to the chemo. The kitchen is stocked with all Sylvie's favorites including avocados, Applegate organic turkey breast, cous cous, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt and string cheese. I'm also going to start with the crazy high calorie, high protein yogurt and fruit shakes laced with pureed & disguised vegetables.

We were met by someone from Home Health who brought with an IV stand and dog biscuits for Lucky. He smelled like cigarettes. I practiced using the pump while Sibel followed along behind me.

Town & Country pharmacy delivered $100 worth of food in a can for Sylvie's NG tube, Tylenol with Codeine (for pain), Senna (for constipation), Bactrim (to prevent infection) and a numbing cream for me to apply before Sylvie gets her ports reaccessed next Monday.

It took the three of us to set up the NG tube and pump. The stethoscope which the hospital gave me is excruciatingly painful so I have to hold it in a wierd way as to not rip my ears. Then I have to pump some air into it and listen to make sure the tube is in her stomach. To be honest, 19 out of 20 times, I can't hear a thing. Somehow it worked on the first attempt tonight. Remember that phrase, "We're only given what we can handle." Well tonight I cannot handle that much.

Right now, Sylvie is asleep on the couch on a pillow 'wedge' with her pink blanket. Michael's alternating between Bill O'Reilly and ESPN while she sleeps beside him. He even bought [French] Kronenberg 1664 beer as a symbolic gesture. All those nights home alone and my husband has become a right winger. I am expecting our friends Sara & Paul to fly the Obama Air Force One plane, that I got their son Eli for his birthday, into Michael's forehead as their symbolic gesture.

We're not sure where the best place is for Sylvie to sleep this evening because it involves one of us either sleeping with her in the guest bedroom or sleeping on the floor in her bedroom. I am volunteering Michael for whichever one of these options because I've been up since 4 am.

Tomorrow, a home nurse is coming from Valley Hospital although I'm really not sure why. In an effort to be efficient and keep track of Sylvie's med schedule, I mapped it all out on the 2009 New Yorker desk calendar that my friend Cyndi gave me. Technically we only need to get through 3 days but being over-organized helps me deal with the fact that the last time the whole family sat on the couch in the family room together, she only had a tummy ache.