Better

A day of rest has helped. I forced fluids on Riley and he is vastly improved. I am home with him today and I will do the fluids again. Its Sunday. The house is quiet. It is 9:45 am and everyone but me is still sleeping. I have been up for an hour, showered and dressed, working quietly at my computer. I check my Facebook and the bills. Eventually, I will have to start making noise.

What is nice is I do not hear Riley coughing. I heard him get up and go downstairs to open his pills to air. He then went back upstairs, back to bed. The pills stink in the package, so he airs them out before taking them. It helps to not gag as he swallows them, if they don't have that fresh out of the package smell. I think we will all be happy when he stops taking the pills.

I did run into a friend at work, who's brother, age 42, has cancer. His bone marrow transplant has not run smoothly. He is still on drugs and fighting the battle. I did not like to hear that news. On the other hand he did not have what Riley has. He also is not Riley's age.

Meanwhile as usual Tom is stressing enough for all of us. He says I pretend everything is normal. He is so wrong. I just know that stressing weeks before there is need only creates an unhealthy environment for everyone. I am not going to act like Riley is a freak we need to watch. He knows he is sick. He knows when he needs rest.

Riley is not the one staying up until the wee hours of the night trying to distract himself with books or TV or computers. Riley, other than sports, is living as he is supposed to, going to school, playing with friends, doing video games on the computer, but not at unreasonable times. He knows when it is bed time or when he is tired.

Trevor is hanging with his father until late, when I get up from bed and yell at them both that it is a school night or the fact that Trevor needs a regular sleep schedule and it is not 4 hours. I remind myself that this is temporary. We are coming up on Tom Seniors one year anniversary of his death and Riley's illness. Life is too short already to dwell in the past or the what ifs. We need to live in the present and look to the future.

Two weeks left until the next stage. I will not get mad. I will hold my tongue. Some people handle stress better than others is all I can say.