Saturday Morning

No nausea from the chemo to report.

Steve is much better this morning. He can roll over without help. He sat up for an hour in a chair. With help from the physical therapist, he walked about 30 feet.

Whether it is the chemo working or being off of steroids for three weeks - or a combination of both - we are excited to see improvement.

The physical therapists have been encouraging Steve to get up and sit in a chair every day. To stay up for 15 minutes was difficult earlier this week. When we checked in to the hospital 2 weeks ago, Steve's left leg would not support him. We are excited to see improvement.

Finally we get Chemo

This morning Steve received a PICC Line. The Chemo should be administered today.

I would never have thought a year ago that I would be excited for Steve to be receiving a poison.

Steve will do one dose of chemo. If all goes as planned, he will stay in hospital up to a week longer, then go to a facility where he will do 3 hours of rehab per day to get ready to come home.

After 3 or 4 weeks he will do another MRI to determine the next step in treatment.

No Lymphoma found in LP

The cytology came back with no lymphoma.

We will be transferred to the Chemo floor today and hopefully start the treatment today.

Everything takes so much time. I wish I could do it all myself. I have a sense of urgency and want the staff to drop everything and start treatment now.

Having said that, I must also add: The hospital staff is wonderful - patient and caring. They work hard for all their patients - not just the most kind, thoughtful, hard-working, loving, talented, amazing patient they have.

waiting, Waiting, WAITING

No results today. We continue to wait and continue to be anxious for the results.

It is difficult.

Are the lesions growing? Are new lesions developing?

We wait and we hope.

No Chemo until the LP results are received

The doctors have decided to wait until the results are back from the LP before doing chemo.

We are learning patience.

Monday, April 13, 2009 - No Chemo Today

A Lumbar Puncture (LP aka Spinal Tap) was done this morning. They are trying to collect abnormal cells to get an accurate diagnosis.

The initial results show slightly high protein counts - which can be caused by lymphoma or demyelinating disease.

The complete results will be available in several days. The lab spins the fluid, collects the cells, puts them on slides, then reads the slides.

No Chemo today. The discussion today is: Would the treatment be the same or different based on the results of the LP? Should the chemo be started before getting the LP results or wait two days for the results?

Steve is weak - he cannot sit or stand by himself. His left side where he has experienced numbness since last September is weaker than his right side.

Steve and I are strengthened by your prayers. Thank you.