Keeping the Faith!

Donald is still doing okay! Still no more fever and his chest looks so much better. The doctor came by today and said they are going to do his bone marrow biopsy Monday and we will go from there. If he is in remission then he will continue with the 8811 regimen and move toward transplant. If there are still cancer cells he will have to undergo an additional Chemo induction. We are praying he is in remission and he will not have to suffer through another induction phase. His blood levels are still about the same so he will not have to have any transfusions today. He has been sleeping a lot over the past 2 days which is great to see. Some days are easier than other but we know God is in control and will heal him. There is a reason for everything and even though we may not know why we have to trust in God and have faith.

FOR WE WALK BY FAITH NOT BY SIGHT - 2 CORINTHIANS. 5:7

Walk this way!

Donald is feeling a little better now. He is sitting up and talking on the phone. When he finishes his antibiotics we are going to try to walk down stairs and get some fresh air. He and I are both tired of being stuck in this hospital room. I believe he will feel much better after he gets up and moves around a little. He has pretty much been in the bed since our arrival this past Monday. Now that his fever seems to have gone he feels more like moving around. If he continues to improve he should only be here a few more days. We will just have to wait and see. Praying for healing.

Quiet Day

Donald has been resting for the most part today. His fever as far as we can tell has gone and his chest is beginning to look better. He has been feeling a little nauseated today but with a little help from our friend phenergan he has been able to tolerate it. The tagged WBC scan came back showing absolutely nothing new. I guess that is a good thing. Praying he will continue healing and be able to go home soon. We are still not sure what is going to happen next. Guess we will find out soon enough. Planning to ask the doctor next time he comes around.

Fever

Donald started running fever again last night. He didn't get very much sleep and is exhausted. He has to go down stairs and lie on a table for 2 hours while they scan his entire body to see if they can determine what they need to do next. The infectious disease doctor came by again today and said she thinks it is just going to take time and she doesn't think the Scan was a good test to order because it can not determine types of infection and usually just lights up things that are not relevant to his current treatment.  But, she is not his doctor so.... I just don't know about this place sometimes. I guess we will see what happens. The infectious disease doctor did have them change his antibiotics back to what treated this in the first place. He is now only on 2 IV antibiotics. There has not been much change in the infection but hopefully it will begin to heal over the next few days.

Another Long Night

Donald didn't sleep very well last night. Despite all of the medication they are giving him he is still anxious. The storm that blew in last night didn't help matters any. It was like someone was standing outside our window with a strobe light. One of the nurses said that rain was coming into some of the rooms on the other hall. His blood levels are back up again this morning so he will not have to get blood products today. Nuclear Medicine came up this morning and drew his blood for the Tagged WBC Scan. They should be back around noon to inject the stained cells back into his line and then do the scan around noon tomorrow. Hopefully this will give us some answers because his chest doesn't seem to be getting any better. It is still very red and swollen. I wish there was something I could do to ease his pain. I hate seeing him lying there suffering. He has been trying to sleep but we have had a student nurse all morning and he is in and out of the room. He is doing a great job though. He will make a great nurse. It has been a pretty uneventful morning so far. Hoping it stays that way so maybe he can rest. 

Days End

Well we are settled back in the room after an awfully long day. He now has a central line and is getting 2 units of blood. There was some mis-communication between staff and he had to get the line put in without sedation or pain medication because no one told him he couldn't eat for 6 hours before the procedure. All things considered, he did very well. Glad that is over.  He was poked and prodded all day and is very tired. He is trying to rest between vital signs and medications. His chest is still swollen and red. There has not been much change in his symptoms but his temperature is hanging on in the low 99's. They will be coming in tomorrow to draw blood for the Tagged WBC Scan. He will have the scan on Thursday. Praying for rest and healing.

Not a good day!

Donald is having a ruff day today. He is still in a lot of pain and they attempted to do the bone marrow biopsy this morning but were unable to proceed because he was unable to get into a good position due to his cellulitus. They are going to wait until it heals before trying to get the biopsy. They were also unable to proceed with his Tagged WBC Scan because they could not get a good vein to draw blood from. They are going to have to take him down stairs and put in another central line this evening. He will also be getting whole blood today because his blood levels dropped over night. I just spoke with the doctor and he said it is probably related to all of the fluids he was given. Please pray for him. His anxiety level is extremely elevated.

Here we go again!

So as everyone knows by now Donald is back in the hospital. He will have to be here for at least 3 days. The cellulitus seems to be the culprit but the doctors have to run test to make sure that is the cause of his fever. He will be getting his bone marrow biopsy tomorrow morning at 8:15 and then he will be getting a white blood cell scan to make sure they are not dealing with another type of infection. His platelets are almost normal now but his red blood counts are still a little low. Aside from the swelling and pain in his chest, arm and leg he is feeling good, considering.

He enjoyed his short time at home and was able to sleep. Heidi was excited to see him and we welcome 2 more kittens into our family the day after we returned home. River, (our expensive stray), had babies that look identical to her. Looking forward to returning home but we are in no rush. We are just going to take it one day at a time.

Thank you Lord for the time you have given us. 

Back at UMC

Donald started running fever last night and the infection in his chest has began to flare up again. We went to the ER at midnight and he was admitted. They have him on 5 antibiotics and will be in the hospital until they can get rid of this infection. He is in room 551 right next to his old room on the 5th floor. Please keep him in your prayers.

Home Update

Donald is settling in at home and has slept good each night. I am still not sleeping but I am sure I will eventually be able to rest. He is still in a pretty good bit of pain from the chemo injection sites and is still pretty weak. His appointment has been moved to Tuesday to have his biopsy and blood work to see where we stand in his treatment. We are hoping he feels well enough to attend church Sunday morning. Only time will tell. Overall, he is doing well at home.

Home Sweet Home!

Donald slept really good last night. Me, on the other hand, not so much. HA! I tossed and turned worrying about Donald all night. I am glad he was able to finally get some rest. He has had a good day back at home. Most of the day has consisted of resting and recovering from the hospital visit. We took 2 short walks up and down the driveway tonight which tired him very quickly. He is still hurting from the Chemo injections to his arm and leg but they are healing. It is so good to be back at home. Still praying for a speedy recovery and a bone marrow donor. We should know within the next few weeks, hopefully, if there is a donor on the national registry. If not, we will have to look to family and friends to try and find a match. I will let everyone know how to be tested if that should come to pass. Thanks again to everyone for your prayers and support.

Home at last!

Well we made it home safely. It was a very tiring day and it feels good to lie down in the quiet of your own home. No IV's, central lines or nursing staff coming in every 20 minutes. Donald is resting peacefully and I am praying he is able to sleep through the night. He is so exhausted.

The kids were so excited to see him (and me) when we drove up in the driveway. They had made a welcome home sign for Donald and were standing in the driveway holding it up.

Donald has to return to the Cancer Clinic on Monday for blood work and another bone marrow biopsy to see if the cancer has gone into remission. Please pray for a good report from the doctor. It is by God's Grace alone that Donald is doing so well.

Thank You All for your thoughts and Prayers. You have no idea what it means to us to have your support.

Going Home

WE'RE GOING HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Homebound update

Donald is doing better today. He is still a little tired but overall he is doing well. His blood counts are still good and on the rise. The doctor said they are just waiting on his white cell count to get above 1,000 and he will be able to go home. Should be able to go home in a few days. Donald is looking forward to sleeping in his own bed and finally getting some much needed rest. We took a short walk today and plan to walk again later tonight if he is not to tired. Once he is discharged he should be able to go home for about 2 weeks and then start the intensification phase of his chemo treatments while they search for a donor. Praying he continues to do well and is able to go home this week.

Tired

Donald has had a pretty tiresome day today. The Chemo has taken it out of him this go round. On a brighter note his blood counts were pretty good today. His platelet levels are still rising on their own. He is doing good but just worn out. It is still looking like he will get to go home sometime this week as long as he continues to do as well as he has for the past 3 weeks. We talked with one of the nurses yesterday about the bone marrow transplant and if he goes forward and can find a donor he will have to be admitted into the transplant unit for 100 days. He is not looking forward to that but if it can make him better then he is willing to do it. 100 days is better than 2 years of Chemo. Right now we are trying to focus on getting him home for a while. He still has a long road ahead of him but he is strong and will get through this. After all, he is Superman. :)

More Good News

Donald has been taken off all IV fluids and antibiotics. Being home for Easter is looking more promising everyday. Donald took a good nap this evening and then we walked 3 laps. He is feeling pretty good considering he had Chemo this morning. Looking forward to going back home. Sleep will be the first order of business when we get home. Might sleep for days! LOL!!! Don and Pat brought the kids by today and we went down to the lobby to visit with them for a bit. We miss them so much. They are getting excited about Donald coming home. No one is more excited than Donald though. :)

Great Report

Donald had his last Chemo treatment for this 30 day protocol and is doing well. The doctor just came in and said he will not have to get any blood or platelets today. His levels are already beginning to rise. His platelet count is beginning to come up on its own which is GREAT! His white count is high enough he doesn't have to wear a mask every time he leaves the room. He still has to be cautious when getting in elevators or anywhere with lots of people. God has truly blessed us through all of this. It is only by God's Grace that Donald is doing so well. We give God all the glory. Thank you Lord for your blessings and for keeping Donald strong. You truly are merciful despite our short comings. We love you Lord and praise you.

Good news

The doctor came in this morning and said they are going to start decreasing Donald's prednisone tomorrow and if all goes well he will be going home in a week. He slept pretty good last night and is having a good day today. No blood or platelets today. He hasn't had to have platelets for 3 days now. Thank the Lord. He has lost feeling in his fingertips due to all of the finger sticks. I have yet to convince him to let them stick his toes. LOL!!! Praying he continues to do well and gets to go home for Easter.

Ummmm!!!!

Not much to report today. Donald didn't have to have any blood, platelets or tests today. His sugar is still on the high side but it's staying about the same. One of Donald's old friends stopped by today and stayed for a few hours. It made Donald's day. The doctor did say that they will soon be tapering off of his prednisone (which is causing the high blood sugar) and his blood levels should begin to rise within the next 10 days. They will be doing another bone marrow biopsy once his levels rise to see if he is in remission.

Beautiful Day

Pat and Don came by the hospital today and we all went outside to enjoy this beautiful weather. Donald was able to walk all the way downstairs and then back up to his room. It was a slow go but he did it. He is doing so good with all of his treatment. Donald's blood levels and white count are looking good today so he was able to take his mask off while outside. It really lifted him up and he said it felt good to be part of civilization again. His leg is still sore from where they injected the chemo. He said he has a pretty good idea what it feels like to be shot. HA! We are still trying to get his sugar under control but no such luck as of 10 minutes ago. It was still in high 400's. Counting down the days until he gets to go home. 

Critical High

Donald's blood sugar reached critical high yesterday. The doctor is still not too concerned about it but they made some changes and is it back down in the 300's today. He had a restless night again last night due to the chemo he was given yesterday. He got up and got a shower this morning which made him feel much better. Just one more round of chemo to go for this protocol. Hoping he is able to go home soon after that. So far he has passed all of his test needed to get a bone marrow transplant. Now we are just waiting to see if he is in remission after this protocol and if we can find a donor. We are still taking it one day at a time. Donald is so ready to go home. If all goes as planned he will be home Easter weekend. That would be wonderful. Praying all continues to go well and he is able to go home next week. Thanking God for his blessings.

Too Sweet!

Well we had a restless night last night but Donald was able to sleep some. His sugar has began to rise again so they are going to make some changes to his insulin to see if we can better manage it. The doctor told him not to worry about it but when your sugar is 499 it's pretty scary. Donald is worried about it causing damage to his eyes. I continue to tell him everything is going to be fine. I told him he is just too sweet. He had another chemo injection this morning and is doing well. He had a good breakfast and is eating lunch. His throat and infection on his chest is almost completely healed. Now if we can just get his right arm to heal from the last chemo injection he will be doing great. We give God all the glory and are thankful for all of his blessings.

An even better day

Donald has had a very good day today. He slept most of the night last night and didn't get up until 10 this morning. He is well rested (as rested as he can be anyway). His labs look good today and he hasn't had to have any blood or platelets. It has been kind of a lazy day today. He will get more Chemo in the morning. He is almost done with the first protocol and then we will be working on getting out of here and going home for a little while.

Latest Update

Today has been okay. We had a few visitors after church today. Donald is pretty tired and his arm is swelling and hurting from one of the Chemo shots they gave him yesterday. They gave him a 6 unit bag of platelets today to try and get his platelets back up closer to normal. Hopefully that will help him with all of the bruising. He looks like he just lost a wrestling match.

We had a long night last night and Donald had me up at 2am after spilling a drink all over him and the bed because he fell asleep trying to drink it. I wheeled him downstairs and we went outside to the courtyard at 2:30 in the morning. It was wonderful. Donald really enjoyed getting out for a while. Later on, when we came back to the room, he spilled a full individual container of COLD chocolate milk all over him and the bed. Again, a result of falling asleep while drinking. LOL!!! He didn't find it very funny but for some reason I did. :) He laughed about it today.

He is getting a little stir crazy being cooped up in this little room all the time. We try to get out as much as he feels up to it but we have to be careful not to go out too much and we try to limit it to nights when everyone has gone home. It's beginning to wear on him a bit. He is ready to be home in his own bed for some uninterrupted sleep. He is hanging in there though. Some days are harder than others. He will be home before he knows it.

His blood sugar has began to climb again and they are trying to get it under control. It has been running in the high 300's to low 400's. He also had a chests X-Ray this morning to rule out any kind of infection such as pneumonia because he was wheezing and crackling in his chest. Thankfully the test came back clear.

As always, thank you all for praying for Donald. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. 

Looking Good

Donald is sporting the military look and is feeling pretty good today. He had Chemo this morning and has tolerated it well. He is resting peacefully. Patricia came to stay with him for a few hours today while I went to the church to see Christopher race his little wooden car. Boy is it hot outside. She said he slept for a long while today.  I am going to get him up for a short walk later this evening to help keep his strength up. He is doing so good. He has been eating his weight in yogurt and pudding. HA! His throat gets better everyday and he is slowing regaining the ability to eat solid food again. He only has 2 more rounds of Chemo left and will hopefully be able to go home in about 2 weeks.

Facts

For anyone who does not know, Donald is at UMC in room 550. I have had a few people wanting to know. Reminder: If you are sick or have been around someone that is sick in the last 24 hours please wait to come by when you are better. He loves visitors but we just have to be careful not to expose him to any illnesses because he has no immune system right now. Also, no flowers or live plants are allowed and no children under age 14 are allowed in his room. Thanks again to everyone for your thoughts and prayers.

Good day

Well today was a very good day. No tests, no blood or platelets, and no extra poking. It has been a pretty uneventful day. Donald and I took a long stroll around the hospital this afternoon and had a few visitors from the neighborhood stop by. Donald has 1 more week of Chemo and then we wait to see what happens. The doctors are hoping he will be in remission and we can begin looking for a Bone Marrow Donor. He will get another round of Chemo in the morning. Thankful he has had a good day today and praying for more days like today.

Better Day

Today has been much better. Donald has been up moving around. We were able to get some of the sores out of his mouth this afternoon. All of his test results came back normal which is great news. The blood cultures show no signs of infection in the blood, the CT shows not bleeding or infection fluid, and his heart scan was great. The infection on his chest is apparently just a localized infection and doesn't look like it's getting any worse. The doctor said it will take a little while for it to heal but with the antibiotics he is on should heal within a few weeks. His throat is beginning to heal and though he can't quite yet eat solid food he can swallow with less pain. With all that was going on yesterday I forgot to tell everyone that he has begun to lose his hair so I had to cut his beautiful curls off. He still has some hair but it is thinning quickly. It want be long now.

They are about to give him another bag of platelets and he should be done for the day. I quote " he SHOULD be done for the day". LOL!

Patricia and Don brought Jordan and Christopher to the hospital today and we met in the lobby for a little while. He was so excited to see them. We both miss them so very much. Jordan was begging me to come home. She is such a sweetheart. I am glad they were able to make it up here because it really brightened Donald's day to see them and to be able to get out of this hospital room for a little while. Donald appears to be on the mend and we are going to try and walk a little later to help build his strength back up. I will say the Lord has blessed him tremendously because despite some of the minor setbacks he is still able to walk, he has not been sick and he still has a smile on his face. God is in control and is helping him every step of the way. What a Mighty God we serve. Thank you all from your continuous prayers and support. You don't know what it means to us.

Also, since he is feeling better, he would love to have some company (other than me, HA) if anyone would like to visit. It gets old looking a the same 4 walls everyday.

Still searching

Sorry I didn't update you last night but our night didn't end until about 4 this morning. Well, it actually never ended but it did calm down. Donald had a Lung function test, X-Ray, CT Scan, 1 bag of platelets and 3 bags of blood, and I have lost count of the different antibiotics (I think it's 3). The doctor has yet to find out what this is on his chest and all of the cultures have come back negative. After they hung his first 2 bags of blood they did an X-Ray and then took him down to have a CT with and without contrast at 11pm. His last bag of blood finished running at 4 this morning. We are now waiting on the lab work to see if his blood count and platelet count has come up. We are praying the doctor has answers this morning when he/she comes in. His chest is still hurting and is really red. Not to mention his throat. It is feeling a little better, I think, because he just spotted the Crispy Creams and is about to demolish them. LOL! Well, he just put them back and said he reconsidered the donuts. You know he is hurting when he turns down some Crispy Creams. The blood and platelets he received yesterday has him feeling better today, with the exception of his throat and chest. He has some of his strength back and has been walking around the room for a bit. Overall his treatment is going as scheduled with a few minor setbacks. Look forward to better and brighter days to come. Please everyone continue to pray for Donald and his family.

More tests

The doctor came in this morning and looked at Donald's chest where they thought the infection was and said she is unsure what it is or the cause. We are about to go down for a CT of his chest to see if there is any bleeding in the area. He will be getting platelets and blood today when he returns from the scan. He is very tired and just wants to sleep. Praying he doesn't have any bleeding and that they can find out what is causing the swelling and redness.

Another Day, Another Test

Barely got up and moving this morning and they came to get him for a lung function test without any warning. Donald was not happy. He is beginning to lose patience and is in pain. He was able to complete the test and is now back in his room resting. He is exhausted from the test. I pray he can can rest for a while before they do anything else.

Resting

It has been another long day but not as stressful as yesterday. They gave him his Chemo this morning and then took him down to Nuclear Radiology and did a Gated Heart Scan to make sure the Chemo is not damaging his heart in any way. He is now radioactive for 24 hours due to the radioactive material they had to mix with his blood. His throat is still hurting terribly. He can barely swallow.  He forces himself to drink boost and eat pudding just for the calories despite the pain. The doctor came in today and prescribed something that should clear the ulcers within the next few days. I pray he can tell a big difference by tomorrow. He is sleeping soundly now. Hopefully he will be able to sleep for a few hours before shift change. He will be going down stairs tomorrow for a pulmonary lung function test to make sure his lungs are tolerating the Chemo as well. His LP came back normal with no blasts or abnormal cells which was a relief. They also have not been able to find any infection from the blood cultures they did the other day. It's looking like the PICC line was indeed the problem and now that it has been removed he should make a full recovery and the swelling should start to go down within the next couple of days. God has been so good to Donald in this time of uncertainty. Satan keeps trying to knock him down but he remains faithful and is ever reminded that God is in control and will take care of him.

Powerful Drugs

Donald was able to rest last night. He slept from 5pm to about 9pm and then from about 10pm to 12am. Then it started to get interesting. Apparently the sedation drugs they gave him cause him to hallucinate a bit and he was up rummaging through everything in the room and talking about his donuts being sick. He is up now and feeling much better after sleeping last night. He says he remembers a little about last night and said he was trying to escape from the hospital in his dream. Glad he didn't. Looks like it's going to be a much better day today. Well the Chemo nurse is here to start is Chemo treatment for the day. He is okay to have visitors now if anyone would like to come by to see him. I am sure he would enjoy the company. Thanking the Lord for getting us through the last 24 hours okay.

Central Line

We just got back to the room from surgery. He had a central line put in and should work much better than the PICC line. He is pretty tired from today's activities. They had to call the pediatric dept. to come put in his IV again so that he could have the surgery. Everything went well and he is trying to rest. They are about to hang a bag of platelets. I will update you later on the progress. The nurse is in the room.

Bad morning

Donald is have a rough start to the day. On top of being exhausted, the night nurse forgot to flush his line after a blood draw and his IV clotted off.  So, they have being using him as a human pin cushion trying to get another line. Not an easy task when you have bad veins. He finally told them to stop trying. He has had enough. He is resting now and hopefully they will get the flight nurse in here to start a line on him so that he can go down and have a central line put in. He is very anxious right now and slightly angry that they let his one good IV clot off. He is tired of being poked and prodded. They are unable to give him any pain medication or antibiotics without an IV and he is past due to have the antibiotic hung. Please pray that they can get a line on him and get the ball rolling with his medications. He is having a terrible day and I don't know how much more he can take. I know God is with us and will get him through this. We just have to keep our focus on him.

Waiting

Donald did okay last night. I went home to spend some time with the kids for the first time in a week. They were so excited to see me. Patricia stayed with Donald last night and said he slept off and on. She said she couldn't get him to go to bed til midnight though. LOL! I am back at the hospital now and he seems pretty tired but his infection appears to be getting better. They just weighed him and he has lost a lot of the retained fluid. He is down 16 pounds in just a few days. We are now waiting on the doctor to come in and tell us what the new plan is for a Chemo line. Praying they can get another line and surgery will go smoothly.

Getting better

Well they decided to remove his PICC line today. After removal he immediately began to feel relief. He was able to relax and take a short nap. He just woke up and the redness around the infected area is almost completely gone. He is sitting up trying to eat. (not an easy task when you have ulcers in your mouth and throat) I am so proud of him. He suffers through the pain because he knows it's what is best for him. He is stronger than I could ever be. He has a break from any ports until tomorrow when they decide what route they want to go next. He will definitely have to have another port of some kind we just don't know yet which one they are going to try. More than likely it will require surgery this time for insertion. He is very nervous about having another procedure but I know he will do fine.  Also, for those of you who do not know, he can't have visitors until they get this infection under control so please call before coming by the hospital. I figure it will only be a few days. I will let everyone know when he can have visitors again. Thank you all again for your prayers and ongoing support.

Up all night

Donald was up and down all night. The infection in his chest is very uncomfortable and he just couldn't rest last night. It doesn't hurt as bad today as it did yesterday but he is still in a lot of pain. His throat is extremely sore this morning and he can hardly swallow. They are discussing whether or not to remove his PICC line. They think it could be the reason for the infection but we will not know for sure until we get cultures back. The doctor has not come around yet to let us know what the plan is. They have stopped using the PICC line for now and they have put in an IV to use until they can figure out what type of infection we are dealing with. They have him on a very strong antibiotic but we have not seen a change in the infection yet. Hopefully the doctor will be by soon to shine some light on the situation. Praying for healing.

Very Long Day

We have not had a very good day today. The Doctor prescribed a muscle relaxer for Donald but it didn't help at all. He also ordered a bag of platelets because his count was just under the limit. Not long after the platelets were administered Donald started hurting worse than before. He also developed a red area on his chest. As the day went on the pain just got worse. We had the nurse call the on call doctor because the pain had become intolerable and his pain  meds were not doing anything to relieve the pain. The doctor came in and at this point the reddened area had spread and had begun to swell. The doctor has now ordered the PICC line not be used and they had to get an IV started on his other arm to administer antibiotics because he now has what they believe is an infection. The doctor would like to keep the PICC line in until the blood cultures come back so that he can possibly keep it but they are not sure at this point if that is the best thing to do. He has had his first round of antibiotics and was given something for pain. He is now resting and hopefully he will be able to stay asleep for the majority of the night. The doctor said he infection sight should begin to clear up by tomorrow. We now just have to wait for the blood cultures to come back so that we can see what we are dealing with. On a brighter note, we had a few visitors today which brightened his spirits regardless of the pain. Well I guess I'm off to bed now. Praising God for all of the blessings he has bestowed on us and praying for a restful night and healing for Donald.

A Bad Day

Donald is still in a lot of pain but the doctor came by and has ordered a muscle relaxer to see if it will clam his muscle spasms and relieve some of his pain. The good news is his PICC line is still good and functioning properly. The doctor said to keep heat on his arm and chest and they would see how it is in the morning. We still have not gotten his labs but looks like he might make it through another day without platelets or whole blood. He has had his Chemo treatment for today and is trying to rest now. We are waiting on the pharmacy to bring up his muscle relaxers. Praying they help relieve his pain and allow him to sleep.

Long Night

Donald had a pretty bad night last night. His PICC line site was causing him to be in excruciating pain. He was able to sleep for a few hours before waking up in pain. The nurse gave him some medication and changed out his dressing with little to no relief. He has developed sores in his mouth and throat now from the Chemo which makes it difficult to eat and swallow. I rounded up a wheelchair at about 3 this morning and took him to the cafeteria for some ice cream which really helped with the pain in his mouth and throat. We sat up for a little while and watched some comedy to try and take his mind off the pain and the he was able to rest for a little while. We are up now and he is still hurting pretty bad but one of his doctor's just came in and is pretty confident that he just pulled muscle when he threw the bottle across the room the other day. He is going to see about getting him a muscle relaxer ordered to help calm the muscles down a bit. Please keep praying for him. He is holding in there but it is wearing on him.

Praying for rest

It was a pretty uneventful day. Donald has been resting most of the day and trying to get rid of some of this fluid. I left him alone for the first time in days to go for my MRI today. His friend BJ came and stayed with him while Patricia took me over to the Pavilion. Lance came by as well to visit for a while and brought him a case of water and some oreo's. He hasn't gotten into them yet but I'm sure it's only a matter of time. LOL! He is still doing okay. He has been a tad bit emotional the past couple of days but it passes quickly. From what I have been told the Steroids reek havoc on your emotions. He was trying to be mighty man yesterday and tossed a bottle at the trash can with his PICC line arm. Needless to say it didn't feel so good and it is very sore today.  He will get another round of Chemo tomorrow and possibly some more platelets and whole blood. He has not had to have either in 2 days which is great. The bone marrow transplant team called today but Donald was unable to speak with them and will call them tomorrow, assuming they work on Saturday. They are hopefully going to get started on finding a donor for him. Well, we are going to try to get a little sleep tonight. Going to bed early. Praying for healing and rest tonight.

Down

Donald slept a little last night but was pretty restless. The fluid retention is beginning to make him very uncomfortable. We have finally gotten his sugar levels under control which is great. He has been up moving around this morning and had a good breakfast. The Steroids are making him very jittery. He is a little down this morning because he wants to go home and is tired of being stuck in the hospital. He will be okay though. His white count has finally dropped down to the point of wearing a mask anytime he leaves the room. Overall though he is still doing well, all things considered.