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.

Wednesday, June 29th, 1977-"Mr Elmer's Wild Ride" or "Insane, Train, & Automobile"

As Peter put it "I had a rough day today".  We both did.  John Sandquist called me at a little after 9:00 am and told me a volunteer named Elmer something would take us, and I should call him immediately-so I did.  When Elmer picked us up he told me that nobody is supposed to call him before 10:00am.  Then he told me about all the traffic tickets he's gotten!  On the way to Boise, he was well over the speed limit ( he said he was doing 60, but the speedometer was closer to 80*).  In Boise he ran 3 red lights and braked in the intersection each time.  Then he went across a railroad crossing while the bell was ringing and the train was right there (Dad ran one too, on Sunday.  He said the light must have changed while he was crossing but it was red before-that's why I didn't ask him to take us to Boise), and Elmer sped all the way back to Ontario.  I was going to call John and tell him what I thought of their volunteer, but the office was already closed when we got back.  Pete's spinal tap went well but they had to try 3 times for the bone marrow.  Dr. Holt said the bones are too soft...the bones in his spine are getting soft (maybe that's why he complained of an ache in his lower back  last night after our walk).  They finally got an IV in a vein on the side of his wrist-judging by the bruises they poked him 3 times.  He said "Mother, I told them where the good veins were in my hand"  He didn't seem to have a reaction to the Venncristen and Cytoxam this time.  We go back August 10th but just for a checkup.  He got a little car out of the drawer when they did his platelet count, and a toy telephone (trim-line) from the toy box after they did his tests.  He took Teddybear and I got him out of the car and had him handed in to Pete (I could hear him crying) while they were doing his tests.  Pete had 2 special treats today-we split an order of cinnamon toast before MSTI (in St. Luke's cafeteria) and we we stopped at the Orchard street McDonalds on the way home.  They had banana shaped airplanes to advertise their new banana shakes  and the waitress gave me one for Pete (without making us order a banana shake).  I had a hot cherry pie to follow my Big Mac and gave Pete a bite.  He ate part of his Big Mac and drank some of his milk.  then took the rest with us in the car (I finished his Big Mac in lieu of dinner).  He slept in the car all the way back to Ontario and watched TV instead of taking a nap, but I napped.  He wanted to go over the Betty Phipps' house and I told him no, she doesn't want company when she has her family at home to care for; but just then she knocked at the back door to tell us to call Sylvia-so we sat on the back steps and talked for a while with Betty and Helen, our other neighbor.  Helen's mother had just died Sunday.  That's a death in every family here.  Ray Tuttle's father, Betty's father, Helen's mother, Daniel's brother-except Pete and me (tho Dad's brother died recently, too-of a broken neck incurred supervising a construction job).  Maybe Pete's illness makes me notice death more...
Met Sharon Walker, MSTI's new social worker.  Pete and I walked over to the college and back tonight.  He saw a thistle (like Eeyore's) and now he knows why Tigger said "OUCH! HOT!".  I I showed him how a snapdragon snaps on our walk yesterday.  His 11:00pm Prednizone wouldn't go down.

*Obviously this was prior to Idaho having raised it's speed limits along I-84 
-PL