The holidays, myeloma style

This year, the holidays pose more of an illness threat than usual. This is a popular time to get
sick for our family as it is what with all the kissing and handshaking at parties and such. The
swine flu has put an extra little wrinkle in things. I did finally manage to get Olivia and Tim the
shots. We actually had to drive into NY state to get Tim's. His doc did not have them and we could not find a place closer that did. Unforunately, I had a reaction to a flu shot 5 years ago
so I cannot get one unless I sit in the doctor's office with epinephrine at the ready and since
our docs don't have them anyway, I can't take the risk of having one done in a CVS and then having a reaction. So I am trying to be careful. I have warned Tim time and again that many MM'ers
do not shake hands and kiss folks when greeting but it's hard to pull back and have to explain
all the time. So I told him that at least with family and close friends, you can explain once and
they'll understand. No dice. The man never listens to me. Heck, I'm his wife and there's times
I avoid kissing him on the lips when there's any chance I've been exposed to something or Olivia
is ill and I may be coming down with it. Our moms and sisters would certainly understand.
It has gotten really hard to entertain now. My Thanksgiving crowd went from 15 to 7 last week. My sis and her
2 year-old were sick and my 18 year old niece was sick too so that made 2 sections of our family
that could not make it. What can ya do? At first I thought it would be great to have all those
left-overs. A step on my bathroom scale this morning has me re-thinking that. Now I have to
decide what to do about this Sat. Our town has a parade and "Home for the Holidays" event
every year and we have a party since our house it at the start of the parade route. I have to
invite folks with the warning that if anyone is sick or has had a live flu vaccine in the past 2
weeks, they can't come. My best friend's 2 girls are having the swine flu mist today and she
either has to postpone or not come. Olivia will be so disappointed. The thought arises too about
whether we should even have this party. Tim hates it when our life is affected by his MM and of
course, if things go smoothly and no one gets sick, we'll be glad we did not cancel it but
I always think to myself, if he gets sick and winds up in the hospital with pneumonia, was it
worth it? Tim has truly been blessed in this area. I read many accounts of MM'ers who get
pneumonia and UTI's repeatedly and it's miserable. We all did get the flu last year and thankfully it did not result in anything too serious but Tim was wiped out for 6 weeks. He
has never had that happen and thank God it was during his slow time at work. I have to make
up my mind soon. Olivia has so many new friends who come from nice families. We have gotten
to know them well and I would love to invite them but between not having a playroom or finished basement for the kids to hang out in and this swine flu deal, I have to refrain from that. I told Liv I would do something at the end of the school year when the weather will be
warm enough for the kids to be in the yard and there will be less illness floating around. Our church has stopped the handshaking and kissing of the "peace be with you" situation as well as the hand holding during the Lord's prayer. I am still in shock that people still drink from the challis though. Others dip their wafers into it. I am not phobic about germs though obviously I am more cautious now but I have to say that I always thought this was nuts. We have a lot of older folks in our church and it amazes me that they would take that kind of risk. I guess they have more faith than I that nothing will happen. I'll stick with my little plastic shot glass. So I
guess that the key is as always, moderation. Have the party but don't go insane with the guest
list. I know that everyone is really careful about not coming around us sick. Nobody wants to be
responsible for passing something to Tim. I always clean and disinfect bathrooms and doorknobs now especially after we have had guests. You know, an "ounce of prevention" and all that. I've already warned Tim that I really don't want a repeat performance of last year's hangover even with the cabinet full of cures we have. It's unbelievable that my hubby could get
through a 4 day drip of CDEP, a stem cell transplant, Velcade and Revlimid without hurling one
single time. Give him just one or two too many brewskis though and he's tossing his cookies
the next morning. This is a VERY rare event around here thank goodness but unpleasant none-the-less. It's not that Tim drinks alot at all. It's that he's not used to it anymore and his tolerance
is WAY down. Well, here's hoping we make it through this next few weeks in good health and with no hurling. It's a short wish list. I'm easy.