Wednesday, September 17
Greetings,

Well, this was our "Day off". Monday and Tuesday Michele was back in the doctor's office having blood drawn and the appropriate fluids pumped in. It turns out her potasium level is low, requiring introvenous infusion and pills at home. The pills are huge and have to be cut in half to be swallowed, but at least they can be taken any time convenient during the day. Although her blood still contains residual methotrexate, they felt that the level was low enough to let her stay home today.

Tomorrow she will settle into the recliner in the oncology suite for her second RCHOP treatment. When they called to remind us of the appointment they quoted a 360 minute treatment time, which is a little disappointing. We were thinking it would be closer to four hours, not six. I guess we'll find out.
There's always room to count your blessings. Yesterday we shared the treatment suite with a 68 year old man and his wife, and an elderly lady who was alone. The man looked fine, but was declining removal of his bladder in favor of chemo and radiation treatment. I heard the doctor say he was between stages 3 and 4, so opting out of the surgery was a gutsy move. Nevertheless, they seemed in good spirits.

The elderly lady was fighting some kind of infection, and was receiving a blood transfusion. She had no family with her and was too frail to adequately push her call button when she needed the nurse. I felt like hugging her, but knew I shouldn't because of the risk of infection for Michele. In the end, my service to her consisted of going to get the nurse when I realized they weren't coming. You do what you can.

So the prayer request for tomorrow is that the pre-treatment bloodwork will reflect figures that allow Michele to receive her treatment, and thus stay on schedule. Bless you for your prayers and concern. It truly means a lot.

Tim and Michele