CHEMO DAY 8 OF 20

Today is Wednesday, Dave's 8th day of treatment.  He had a good weekend, highlighted by the arrival of his brother Jeff and sister-in-law Bobbie from Houston.  Dave was fatigued, but able to function all day Saturday and Sunday without taking naps.  Then came Treatments Week Two.  Jeff took Dave to the ACI Monday and Tuesday while Bobbie and I played. Week Two is not going as well as Week One.  Dave's white blood cell counts are down and he has neutropenia.  He has to take precautions being around people and eating raw fruits and vegetables, and he has to wash his hands as often as possible.  However, his chemo regimen will not be changed for a while to see if the counts improve.

Dave routinely gets chilled when getting the interferon (INF) (but not the saline or other drugs) and we've come up with a fairly good way to combat it.  We take his 'neck warmer' - a fabric bag full of cherry pits (I believe) that can be put in the microwave.  We get it nice and warm, then Dave lays it on his chest and zips up his fleece vest.  He has a blanket on top of him as well as his windbreaker/jacket.  That combination seems to work until he can finish the bag of INF and the following bag of saline solution.  He was getting uncomfortably cold just as he finished up today, so I'm thinking of taking a second neck warmer with me tomorrow.

While they were here, Jeff and Bobbie were looking forward to visiting with Jeff & Dave's sister Sandy. They stopped by to see her Sunday and Monday, and Bobbie and I had coffee with Sandy on Tuesday.  It was a Howell reunion - though we were wishing Candace could have been here, too.

Bobbie took this picture on Sunday 10/13/13.  I love it that the Howell siblings are all smiling.  I'm not sure Dave has had the energy to smile today - so far.