So while Jon is resting, I figure I'll attempt to get motivated. The thing is, sitting in our living room, I'm distracted. I'm distracted by every sound, every turn he makes in bed and rustle of the sheets. Background noises like the heat and other apartments' flushing toilets seem extra loud. I can tune all of that out, but the hardest part is I can't stay focused on the computer screen. My eyes constantly are drawn to the cluster of picture frames hanging on the wall to my right. "Live, Laugh, Love." One of my best friends, Ana, got the set of frames for me last year when Jon and I moved into this apartment. I remember sitting on this same couch deciding which photos to use, and into which specific section each photo would go. "Laugh" was easy. I found pictures that made me laugh -- Jon dressed as a nurse from two Halloween's ago, and one of him giggling as I made silly noises in his ear. We look so happy in that picture, it's one of my favorites. Mostly because I remember the exact moment, and what we were giggling about, and just how silly we were being. "Love" goes in the center and I remember thinking any picture of the two of us works just fine in that section. But I remember hesitating a bit over the "Live" section. I didn't want to throw just any old picture in there. I really wanted it to represent what that word meant. I kept myself completely out of that section. It seemed more relevant to depict Jon truly "living". I chose a picture of him playing flag football and one I took of him on the beach in Cape Ann, the first summer I went away with his family. Looking at it now, I'm not sure other people would get why it seems fitting. But I love that picture. It's him, with his new sunglasses on, smiling, looking healthy, with his shirt off and the sun shining behind him. The picture always seems so bright to me and as I study it, I realize, it's his smile that really lights up the picture.
My eye keeps going to that picture. How could things change so quickly? That summer he had just finished his initial chemo regimen and he was doing great. We did so many fun things that summer... cancer was just a side note, an annoying visit to the clinic or a few days of dealing with nausea. We promised each other we would never let it take over our lives or stop either of us from "living". It makes me sad to think about. Don't get me wrong, I feel grateful for all of those good days. They just seem so far away right now -- but still barely out of reach.
I won't sit here and say things have kept getting worse from that point. We had rough patches, and we pulled through. Jon fought like hell and never ceased to amaze me, and we went on with our lives as best we could. But this one... this over a month long "rough patch" of extreme downs and minute ups has really been a challenge. I keep waiting for the upswing. Maybe that's why I keep looking at that picture. I want that SO badly. I want to see him smile like that, and run on the beach. Right now, I'd settle for a walk to the park.
I'm not giving up hope. A few weeks ago, the doctors basically told me Jon was dying, and that his mental status would probably not return to normal. As much as I didn't want to believe them, I had to at least consider they were right and that he wouldn't come back. And then he did -- he came back to me, and his cancer seemed stable. I approached him with the subject of dying multiple times and each time, he laughed at me and said he was going to get through this. We talked about how things needed to improve, that physical therapy had to be intense and he had to eat to put back some of the weight he'd lost. We decided that the way things were, the way he was living day to day, was not a life. We both wanted more.
This past week, Jon started having seizures. Not violent ones, like the image that probably comes to mind when you hear the word seizures. Eyes rolled back, unresponsive, an occasional twitch. Scary enough for me to see. MRI and CTscan were stable. Doctor thinks it's from "irritation" to the brain. That can still mean from the past radiation he's had (my gut feeling), or it could mean cancer cells. The answer can ALWAYS be cancer, but I don't think it is this time. He's back to sleeping all day, and although he's not confused, he's not totally himself. No seizures for 36 hours though, fingers crossed the meds are working. Once we get that stable, then maybe we can finally start getting him stronger.
I miss him. I keep playing back moments from before this new obstacle started. What was the last really fun thing we did together? What if I missed it... what if I missed the last moment that he was totally and completely himself? What if we wasted it watching "Family Guy"? I'll never know the answer to that. I just pray he comes back to me again because we have so much more to do.
I think about losing him. Sometimes, as morbid as it sounds, I even try to imagine it. What would it feel like? I know it would be the worst feeling imaginable, but I try to think about it. How would it happen? How would I live in this apartment? What would it feel like to lie in bed without him next to me? Even when he's asleep, or confused, somehow physical presence means so much more than I ever expected. Would I be able to breathe without him? I like to think I'm a strong person. I try to imagine how I'd live day to day. The answer is, it would hurt, every minute, as I imagine it must for so many people who have lost someone. I feel guilty for even thinking about it.
I think about him getting better, too. I focus on it, meditate on it, pray for it to happen. It's just so hard to see. Pain is so much easier to imagine than happiness.
I want him next to me always, but I also want him to live. Much greater than my fear of losing him is my fear of him holding on just for me. He deserves so much better than this life.
I began to type a sentence about how if I lost Jon, I'd lose my belief in magic. But the truth is, as angry as I'd be, as angry as I am... WE are magic. Our love is magic. So it must exist. I'd be a hypocrite to say it doesn't.
My birthday was yesterday, and although I refused to blow out any candles or really celebrate, I did make wishes. I wished (as I do every 5 minutes) for Jonathan to get better ... to have a life... for both of us to live the life we deserve. I wished for strength. Lots of it.
On my last blog, Jonathan commented "Bring it on, 2012!". He was ready to fight and so I will take my place beside him and keep fighting.
We can't have everything we want. Sometimes, we simply have to believe.”
― Garth Stein, The Art of Racing in the Rain
― Garth Stein, The Art of Racing in the Rain
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