CHEMO DAY 10 OF 20 - MIDPOINT!

We're halfway through the daily chemo treatments - thank goodness!  From our daily discussions with Rosemary the nurse practitioner, and Dr. S today, we're led to believe Dave is doing extremely well.  Although he has acute fatigue and occasionally has muscle aches (the typical flu-like symptoms) he has not had any nausea.  In fact, the anti-nausea medication he was getting through the IV has been deleted from the orders, as it was causing other uncomfortable side effects.

If you are wondering what acute fatigue is for Dave, consider -- after getting dressed and having breakfast, he sits on the sofa or chair waiting for it to be time to get in the car.  He may or may not be watching the news.  (Although this morning he ventured out to our patio to talk to our neighbor who came to finish a paint job on our back wall.)  He falls asleep while getting his chemo.  He comes home, eats lunch and takes a nap that lasts from 45 min. to 3 hours. He may or may not take a walk around the block.  He's back in bed at 7:30 and after some time with his iPad, sleeps 9-11 hours.  He has trouble reading and talks slower than usual. He is eating healthy foods in small amounts and has lost 6 pounds in two weeks.  He is not drinking any alcohol but is drinking 1-1.5 liters of water a day in addition to his IV fluids, a cup of coffee and some hot tea in the chemo room.

I hate to think I may be exposing Dave's 'frailty' in a way he or I would later regret but if you know us, you know I'm doing it only out of my desire to keep our family and close friends informed about how he's doing.  He doesn't complain, but today he said, "I'm tired of being tired."  The fatigue seems to get worse every day, but now we have a weekend to recuperate. We were comforted by the doctor telling us, in spite of the low white cell count, the spike in his blood sugar one day, and the fatigue, compared to other people who have gone through this regimen, he is doing extremely well.  Dr. S did not believe the INF dosage needs to be weakened.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers, emails, cards, flowers, meals, and offers to help - taking Dave to chemo, painting our back wall and in your words "anything and everything." Sometimes I just cannot believe how fortunate we are to have such great friends and families. Here's to a wonderful (and relaxing) weekend for all of us!