It's always nice to have a miracle

Eric has not felt well the last few days.  He has a lot more pain in his bones, and now his muscles are also hurting.  It hurts to move and it hurts to stay still.  Eric is also losing strength and balance.  How fun.  Evidently this is normal for cancer patients.  Despite the pain, we continue to walk as much as we can each morning, just at a slower pace. 

Eric continues to stay as engaged with life as possible.  He has been listening to a Great Lectures series done by a University of Virgina professor on the Civil War.  Eric also watched the movie Gettysburg and has been researching Civil War atlases and rereading books on the subject.  Have any questions on the Civil War?  Eric would be glad to visit with you.

Friday morning at the doctor's office Eric's temperature was 99 degrees.  Fevers are very bad news at the moment because Eric's immune system is so compromised.  When I took his temperature at 2:30 his temperature had risen to 101.2.  I called the doctor's office and left a message with the nurse.  It was a tense half hour until they got back to us and told me to give Eric the antibiotic they had prescribed a couple of weeks ago in case this very thing happened.  (The antibiotic must be fairly strong because it said on the information sheet that it is also used for anthrax and the plague.)  I was to keep monitoring Eric's temperature and if he showed any sign of illness I was to take him to the emergency room, or if the fever hadn't broken by this afternoon it was a trip to the emergency room.

A friend came over yesterday evening about 8:00.  He and our son Stephen gave Eric a blessing and then Eric had a nice visit with him.  When I took Eric's temperature at 9:00, his temperature had dropped to 98 degrees.  What a blessing!  Eric's temperature has continued to stay in the normal range so far today.  So hopefully we will have a quiet day at home without any medical issues or trips to the emergency room.