And now we know the chemo is working

Eric has done amazing well through this whole cancer journey, including incarceration (I mean voluntary confinement) in a very small hospital room.  I never thought he would adapt so well to living in such a small space, but I guess fatigue, pain killers and sleep deprivation have helped immensely. 

In fact, he has done so well that on Friday afternoon, after having three rounds of killer chemo on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, we were beginning to wonder if the chemo was even working.  Then two of our sons joined us for a lovely picnic on Eric's bed.  They brought very fragrant Italian take-out which filled the room with an incredible aroma.  And suddenly we knew the chemo was working.

Stephen, Michael and I (and our lovely Italian take-out) were banished to the waiting room and the nurses rushed in with heavy duty anti-nausea medication.  Eric threw up several times, something he has not done for over 30 years.

So now we know.  The chemo is working.  Fortunately we live in a wonderful era of modern medicine.  The anti-nausea meds have worked great today.  Unfortunately they also put Eric to sleep almost immediately.  So we call the cafeteria and the nurse at the same time so that his food comes after the medication but before he falls asleep.  Eric has been able to eat something at each meal and keep it down, but he has slept most of the day.  The nurse told him he could choose:  vomit and stay awake, or keep food down and sleep.  Eric was amazed that he could just sleep through the days of nausea, so I am now married to Rip Van Winkle.

Eric has a self-imposed goal of walking three times a day for 30 minutes.  So even though the medicine was putting him to sleep, we did our walks.  First time I have ever seen anyone sleep walking.  And that is the truth.  Our nurse just laughed every time we passed her.

I just wanted to let you all know that we are doing great.  After a few months of not sleeping, Eric is now sleeping like a baby.  (Where does that phrase come from?  None of my children slept that great when they were babies.)  He is maintaining his weight, knows there are medications to control the nausea, is pretty much pain free, and is looking forward to hiking in southern Utah.

Eric's sister Debbie received her first injection today to stimulate the production of stem cells in her blood.  It was great to see her at the hospital today!  Wednesday is the big day, and we are so grateful to have made it this far with so few problems.  Thank you for your prayers.  We know we have been blessed.