Monday, July 11, 1977-in which Pete shares his fears

Pete and I had a very quiet, pleasant day today.  John took us up to the hospital for Pete's blood test.  Shirley did it and Pete didn't fuss at all.  She forgot to put a band aid on but Pete didn't seem to mind.  He saw Sister Angelica and told her he'd got two fish.  John took Pete's Prednisone and my Tremon to Skagg's (which eventually evolved into Rite-Aid-PL) to be filled.  Betty Phipps came over briefly this morning before we had to go and Pete had a good time telling her about our trip.  I discovered Pete's doctor appointment is tomorrow and not Wednesday, so I called Sylvia and told her I thought we'd better skip the Payette Swimming pool.  She said they told her the afternoon was usually pretty crowded, and Pete doesn't feel secure enough in the water to like horseplay.  I arranged for Sylvia to bring Sharon over to play with Pete while she grocery shops on Thursday.  If it's hot tomorrow I'll get Pete's little wading pool out for him since it's an even-numbered day (because of the water shortage they're still allowing irrigation only on alternate days).  Pete got a package fro Carol Carr today "beach combings", shells, odd rocks, a tiny piece of coral, some seaweed-I think tomorrow we'll take his "seashore" book and try to identify everything-pretend we're walking along the beach.  Pete and I took early naps and he went on a TV viewing orgy; "The Flintstones", "Sesame Street", "Mr. Rogers", "Electric Company" and "The Brady Bunch".  Then I unplugged the set.  Pete didn't want to go outside tonight, tho' he did sit on the front steps and blow bubbles for a while.  He helped with cooking today, hamburgers, pork chops, and three small cans of cooked carrots (better for snacks than candy, I guess).  We saved two of the cans for his "store" but I draw the line at three.  He had a little spot on his back-I tried to investigate to see if were a bruise or an insect bite, but Petey told me "Mom I just have a spot because I'm very sick with Leukemia".  Then he asked me if he had to walk very slowly because he had Leukemia.  He said he told Vicky that he had it and she said they had to be very careful, then he asked me about the time when he was very sick and couldn't see any strangers, and then tell him about the things he can do now.  He said he was frightened to go to sleep but wouldn't tell me why.  I should have realized that his illness is frightening to him, too, and he needs to talk about his fears.  We played race cars on the table, and dollhouse in the playroom (which Pete cleaned very nicely all by himself).  Called Dad-Mom's having some bleeding again so she's seeing the doctor tomorrow.  Pete switched back to 6MP and Methatrexate today.  I read The Silent Cousin and Stranger at Rembrooke today.  Read Pete Wheels That Work (a pop-up book), The Christmas Story, Child's Garden of Verses, and Little Red Riding Hood today.

Monday, June 27th, 19777-In which we go for a taco, Pete gets blood drawn, and a trip to the library yields dividends

Dad came in and replaced the cover on the light for me.  I'd gotten the bulb in ok but was dizzy yesterday and I'd had enough of standing on the table.  Then we went to the bank.  I cashed a check for $25.00 and put $10.00 into Pete's savings account for his bicycle.  Mailed my letter to Lorraine and got some stamps (Layfayette bi-centennial commemorative) at the post office.  We drove through Ontario Pharmacy and I left Pete's Methatrexate to be refilled.  He's on Prednizone now but we'll have the other when we need it.  Then we went to the hospital.  Shirley Kimball did his blood test but did a finger stick she didn't know how to fill the small bottles so Phil came in to finish up.  Luckily they only had to poke him once.  We took Dad to Taco Time for lunch and ran into Dr. Baskerviille.  Pete had a taco and even ate the "salad" part.  Dad and I had combination specials-taco and enchilada.  Had a moment's qualm of conscience but decided a taco is closer to what his diet allows than most ready made meals one can buy.  Wanted to ask Dr. Baskerville about camping and wading but restrained myself and called her office instead (she was much incensed at lunch about a lady who'd decided to have her baby at home, was 6 weeks overdue, and had been in labour for 40 hours before they brought her into the hospital).  When I called the office she ok'd both activities and thanked me for not asking her at lunch.  We went back by Ontario Pharmacy and picked up Pete's prescription then went to the library.  Dad napped in the truck (a 1972 Dodge if I remember-truly a beast of a vehicle-PL) while Pete and I went in.  I found an Elisabeth Cadell I hadn't read and the Dr. Seuss album that Pete likes was in so I checked it out again.  Pete got his own books and briefly mislaid my card but we found it again.  I'd stopped at Safeway on the way home (more juice and cigarettes) and got some watermelon so Pete and I had that.  We were playing on the front lawn and Pete started to race around the house to get his tricycle and fell, scraping one knee and skinning the other.  Used my Bactine and band-aids but wasn't sure the recovery was complete until Pete started dancing in the kitchen.  He got Nancy Lloyd (a doll that mom had-PL) to dance with him, then put her in a chair to wach while we danced.  We saw Betty  Phipps and went over to her house briefly (I had to fill her in on developments since my "party-less night").  Pete played with her cowboys and Indians (figures-PL).  We unpacked and put away the box of surplus kitchenware Betty (Nelson-PL) sent in and I packed som of it up for Thelma.  Betty sent me a bread pan so I'm returning Thelma's-only unplugged the hot plate I've had on top of it...and that's been plugged in (off) for months!  Packed that for Thelma too.  Gave Pete a bath, under protest, to be "clean for Nicole", but once rubber ducky joined him, he enjoyed it...even wash his hair.  We read the Peasant's Pea Patch again, Timothy's Horse, and looked at the pictures in Apples For Sale.  We also played "Horton Hatches the Egg" but for some reason, the phonograph's volume is very low-like a whisper even when turned up.  I read Lockridge's Streak Of Light.  Pete had some chicken alphabet soup for a late snack, "reading" it in the spoon.  He let me open the windows tonight.