about a week out...

...and still feeling crappy. this is definitely one of the worse weeks he has had in a while...but there is a flicker at the end of the short tunnel.

the nausea is still around but he had not actually gotten sick for a couple of days now. we still are packing a "bowl" when we travel back and forth to the hospital...but that is improving some. unfortunately about the time that he starts to feel a little better the ulcers come. he can feel them coming now...his throat and mouth are getting more sensitive and sore. he has lost 10-11 pounds since his chemo last week and will probably lose a little more before he can really begin to eat well again.

his counts are dropping...

the white blood cell count went from 29 to 2. (this means that he can not fight off infections and they classify him as "neutropenic". different diet. wear a mask and avoid sick people and prepare for the mouth ulcers)

the red cell count is holding at about a 10...when he gets to around an 8 hemoglobin they will start to transfuse the red blood cells.

the platelets have taken a dive...from a 29 to 12. he was having nose bleeds on wednesday so we had suspected they had fallen. he received a dose of platelets yesterday.

they gave him the day off today...he goes back in tomorrow (thanks larry for the taxi service). i have to work from 4am until noon so i will go up after work and stay with him until he is done.

thanks for all your calls and concerns...somedays he doesn't feel that he has the energy to talk much so i have been intercepting some of his calls. don't take it personal...keep on checking on him...if he can talk he will and if he can't he won't. you are NOT bothering him. when he gets weak he sometimes loses his voice a bit too.

although it is a terrible thing to go through he is finding some relief in the fact that he has done this before (a lot) and he always eventually feels better. this was round #4 and he is getting the routine down...in the morning we will sit and talk and he will say "well, if i am on schedule this or that should happen today"...sad but i think sometimes the known (even if it is bad) is better than the unknown.

well, that is the update for the day.

gotta get the kiddos moving a bit faster...boy, you can tell that we are getting to the end of a year.

(for those of you that just love to hear ashley health related stories...she finally got back to playing soccer this week and yes...you guessed it...she is hurt again. apparently while playing she had a high kick and now has what they call a HIP FLEXOR...nothing major but she will be sitting the last couple of games on the side lines again...bummer year for that poor kid).

thanks for checking in.

tim and tammy