Noon Monday, June 27th, 2011

Okay.  (I just took a deep breath.)  We're still doing well with the waiting game so far.....Ed had a pretty quiet rest of the day Sunday and is still feeling reasonably okay, considering all the chemo and medications he has had the past 4 days.  I walked around Westwood for a little bit yesterday afternoon to scout out the area, get a little fresh air and sunshine and pick up some goodies at Trader Joe's.  We read the Sunday paper, looked at maps to plan some future motorcycle ride routes, and watched a couple of sci-fi movies.  We also discovered that Ed's room overlooks the outdoor patio of the psychiatric ward 2 floors below, so there was some interesting activity to observe occasionally throughout the day just to change things up a bit.   We had a lovely nurse named Kathy yesterday who also gave me a very thorough class in the care and maintenance of the perma-cath in Ed's chest.  They will leave it in when he's discharged since he will probably continue to need transfusions and they can use it to draw blood so he doesn't have to be such a pincushion.   Just your average Sunday afternoon........

Today Ed is having doses 7 and 8 of the ARA-C and etoposide, which are the last two doses of those drugs.  Tomorrow he will get melphalan (another chemo drug) and then he's REALLY done with chemotherapy!  YEAH!!  Wednesday will be a welcome day of rest and flushing out as much chemo as possible.  His counts have started dropping as expected but they haven't crashed, so he's still feeling pretty much the same as the past couple of days - "generally just sort of crummy with occasional waves of more crummy" which is a direct quote.  Overall, the doctors are pleased that he's still eating and getting up to walk the halls, and able to take a bath each day (no showers allowed).   His red count is nearing the threshhold for a transfusion, but its expected and doesn't cause him any pain, he just feels more tired and lethargic.  Lots of cat-napping for this guy who usually has life's tiger by the tail.....

Not much else to tell right now.  The days are long for him for all of the obvious reasons, but he's doing a good job of being a patient patient, which we all know is challenging for him, especially with the sunshine and all of his summer toys beckoning.   For the moment, feel free to call Ed if you'd like.  He knows you'll understand if he doesn't answer when he's resting or doesn't feel up to chatting.  Or send a "thinking of you" text.....I know sometimes its hard to have the right words to say in a call.  He appreciates it all and understands too. 

We're entering the "hunker-down" days for sure and I'll do my best to keep the blog updated.  I know you are all pulling for his recovery to be swift and steady and you all want to know what's going on.  Thank you so much. 

Liz