ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER

Gee, where do I start. It's been a pretty hectic day. First change is no chemo tomorrow as planned. Dave has developed some shortness of breath so a pulmonologist has now joined the team. He's a great guy and we feel comfortable with his care. He ordered a CT scan of Dave's lungs and it showed some aspiration "gunk" and also some upper lobe pneumonia. Tomorrow morning Dave will have a bronchoscopy so we can get an idea of the most appropriate antibiotic to treat it. He is already on a few different ones, but not sure they are the right ones for this infection. As the doc said, we are not alarmed at this point. Consequently, the chemo won't start until Monday if his blood work is stable. I had planned on getting on the train Sun. night and coming home for a few days to work and gather up by taxes, but I guess that's not going to happen. I want to be here when they give him the "big guns". I guess I'll just have to ask for an extension on the taxes.

We are really in good hands here and Dave is keeping the nurses entertained with his quirky sense of humor and quick wit. He's also made friends with all the cleaning ladies too whether they speak English or not. What a guy - gotta love him!

FEVER, SHAKES & SWEATS

Dave has had continued fevers, usually running in the 103 range. Tylenol helps some, but I wish it would help him more. He had a good night - fever free until almost 4 a.m. when it spiked again. With that came some waves of nausea, but now that is controlled and he is sleeping as I write. He had his last dose of Hydrea this morning so, hopefully, tomorrow they will start him on his actual treatment with the "big guns". Please keep Dave in your prayers. Thanks everyone.

MOVING FORWARD

Today, within minutes, they will be taking Dave to put his Hickman catheter in. This catheter will be inserted in the right upper chest area and will be access to chemo drugs and stem cells. Dave has had fever spikes over the last two days which are being treated with Tylenol. According to the medical staff, this is not abnormal when dealing with leukemia. His whitecount has still not gone down to the level which would be ideal before beginning the treatment that has been recommended to fight this leukemia. They have again increased his dose of Hydrea to, hopefully, bring down his whitecount. This may take another couple of days, but no one knows for sure as everyone's body reacts in its own way. I hope Dave will be more comfortable after the Hickman is inserted.

TEST, TEST, TEST

We arrived yesterday with the help of our good friends, Orland and Jan, and believe me, it was hard walking back into this hospital. It was a lot tougher to do than 3 yrs ago. After taking a deep breath, I sucked it up and got ready for, as Dave says, "the bumpy ride".

We no longer got into Dave's room before it was swarming with nurses. It's amazing how efficient they are. We were very relieved to see Kristin who happened to be one of the nurses Dave had 3 yrs. ago. She is just a sweetheart and remembered us and greeted us with a big hug. Boy, was that a relief.

The evening was full of activity and tests, then Dave sneezed!! Well that took care of the ease of this transition. Immediately he was in isolatation and I was to wear a gown, mask, and gloves at all times when in the room. Have you ever tried to sleep in an outfit like that? I hope you never have to. I woke up with my mask around my neck and the gloves in a wad on the floor. OOPS! Hopefully, his sneeze was just allergies and he is out of isolation tomorrow. Maybe I'll get use to this new sleeping arrangment! No more midnight snacks for me:)

Dave did receive two units of red blood cells during the night and possibly will receive platelets tonight. We are thankful we arrived when we did as the leukemia is very aggressive. He is now on a chemo pill to slow that down. After all the tests are completed, we will know what the plan is going to be as far as treatment.

Those strange masked people in the photos happen to be Orland and Jan. Thanks you two for putting up with us.

Quite the Ham

I wanted to post a few shots from the other day. My Dad is pretty much the only one who "humors me", and would let me get away with this. Let's just say I hear a lot of, "Molly, get that camera out of my face" from everyone else I try this on. What a guy! Thanks Dad.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

It was a good day. We enjoyed relaxing and Orland driving, visiting, and doing a lot of laughing thanks to Jan and her quirky sense of humor. Of course, Dave had a lot to add to the conversation. The highlight was spotting a herd of 20+ Bighorn sheep walking along the railroad tracks along the Clark Fork river. I think that's the name of the river :). We made it to Ritzville where we stayed at the Best Western. Gotta go and catch breakfast!