Good Days Ahead!

Cycle 1, Week 2 - 1st full week of rest

This has been a GREAT week!  Dave woke up on Monday feeling great.  He came out to Mexican Monday and had dinner and good convo with the fam (well, I thought it was good anyway).  He ate quite a bit (yay for the return of his appetite) and felt great all the way up to bedtime!  Today he did, however, develop some mouth sensitivity and the beginnings of mouth sores.

Tuesday was a lazy day at home, but that's alright.  He had planned on going back to work on Wednesday, so he was getting some extra rest to prepare.  I had stopped at the store and bought him some soft-bristled toothbrushes and Biotene (a recommended mouthwash).  He used it that night and said it was great!  He has since told me that in using it in the morning, it cuts the soreness for most of the day, so that's good. (FYI:  oral hygiene is EXTREMELY important when going through chemo)

Wednesday was his first day back at work and he did awesome!  He ate dinner with my parents (because Aria and I were at our Wednesday play date) and he ate a TON of food.

Thursday he didn't work (they didn't have any loads available for him).  He was finally feeling well enough to help me with some chores :)

Friday (TODAY! I did it...I caught up!) he has a lab appointment to check how the chemo is affecting his system....make sure his cell counts are all where they should be, make sure his kidneys are still functioning properly, all that jazz.  Then he's going to work right after and he offered to grill me something for dinner...yummo!

Tomorrow I'll be attempting to make his mom's matzo ball soup (which...from a non-jewish standpoint...is basically just chicken noodle soup with a dumpling).  I've never made soup before and I'm feeling a bit intimidated by the idea of the whole chicken, cut into 8ths, and placed into the pot...bones and all.  I'm just picturing bones everywhere.  I'm picturing the meat coming off the bones and then the bones are floating around among the veggies. Yikes!  It's an all-day affair if you include the time it takes to peel and chop all the veggies.  Not gonna lie....I'm not looking forward to making this!! But Dave asked for it last Saturday when he was still feeling sort of "blech" and it will be something good for him to have on treatment days when he's not really hungry.  I don't even like chicken noodle soup...so I'm not as excited as he is.  Mom is coming over to help me and/or to entertain Aria....THANK YOU!

Today I have to go to a memorial service.  My first one for somebody my own age.  I'm less than excited.  I don't do well at funerals...and I've only ever been to funerals for old people, never somebody youthful and vibrant, and never for somebody who was a direct friend of mine.  I'm quite saddened by this whole situation but I'm hopeful that this young lady has found some peace.  You were beautiful and brought so much joy wherever you were, you will be missed!

I'm going to post again later today with some fun stuff (some links and picture and things of that nature).  I'll try to do it every Friday.  Fridays are great days because it's the end of the week, but for weeks like treatment weeks, it can be the best blessing in the world!

I just heard from Dave...his labs came back and are looking good!  His kidneys and liver are functioning properly, his cell counts all look good.  His white blood cells have decreased by half since starting treatment, but at 7-10 days after treatment, that is to be expected.  He's still a "go" for his next treatment week being the week of Halloween.