I'll Stand By You

So, in the post right down yonder I said that today was a day where I'd observe people being kind and compassionate out in the wild of day. Meh, I didn't get much observation time in beyond watching chemicals drip into my sister's body via I.V.

I arrived at Casa Maureen around 11:00 a.m. After petting the dogs and exchanging in a little chit chat with Kris, we departed in the cold, rainy muck of the day. We made a drive-thru side trip for a bite and an eggnog shake. Sis was craving one and knew after the chemo treatment she'd be too sensitive to the cold to enjoy one (a side effect of this particular treatment is hypersensitivity to cold.)

I'm unsure when we arrived at the Loyola clinic, but the ride up took about an hour --sissy chitty chat time. More sissy chatter in the waiting room. They were readying things up for the drip, drip, drip.

The same male nurse I met the last time I took her came to get us. His name is Craig or Greg. I'm bad with names, but he is so friendly. Very nice. Always has wisdom to share without being preachy. He weighed Maureen, took her temp and blood pressure. I accused him of trying to pierce her lip with the thermometer cap. The goofy thing wouldn't grip to the thermometer and it shot off at her face. We all laughed.

A little more time passed and the nurse, Cathy/Cindy/can't remember, flushed the port in Maureen's chest and voila! The chemotherapy session started. Craig/Greg brought us something to drink. From then we yapped, flapped our gums and talked about anything that sprang to mind.

Maureen told me she had a month of free Internet with her new phone. With that she opted to find ringtones. Flipping through a gamut of pop tunes and irritating Disney tween tunes, she asked about a song she loved, but the name escaped her. She said it was a Pretenders' song that Carrie Underwood covered. Now you understand the title of this post.

Unaware of the time that had passed, Mancub's ringtone from home started blaring...'I'm walking on sunshine whoa-whoa-whoa!" It was 3:30p.m.ish. I couldn't believe I'd been there with my sister for that long. I confess that my right butt cheek was growing numb, but I blame the less than comfortable chair. She was cozied into a hospital version of a recliner. I doubt it was cozy, but it had a foot rest.

The last bag of chemical goodness emptied and set off a chime that alerted the nurse to take care of business. To ward off allergic reaction, Maureen took a Benadryl. It was nearly 5:00 p.m. when we set out into the sleeting nastiness of the dark.

About 1/4 of the way into the return trip sis was drifting off. I knew after taking an antihistamine that she'd be zonked. I am a zombie when I take it.

I had the radio turned down low. On occasion I could hear the strains of a Christmas song. All the while I hummed to myself a very fitting tune ...

... and I always will, Maureen.