The weekend has been pretty boring. Al hasn't come downstairs since he had to go to the doctor on Friday. He basically stays up in the bed all the time. He just dozes on and off. He went from 100 mg of Fentanyl to 50 mg on Thursday, so he is experiencing some more pain. He hasn't tried soup or anything for a while now. He wants to eat, but everything burns or irritates his mouth. At least he is drinking 2 shakes a day. It's really not enough, but his weight has stabilized. The doctor said his kidney function improved, but he is even more anemic now. If his numbers continue to drop, they will give him a blood transfusion. He has another case of thrush, so he is on antibiotics for that. He is just so tired that it's not likely he'll go back to work any time soon. The doctor said to give it a good 2 months or so. He was hoping to go back to work sooner, but he isn't even close to ready.

We had a pretty good weekend. Al is feeling much better. He is back to drinking shakes and plenty of water and Gatorade. He even managed to get down some soup. He is still pretty frustrated about not being able to eat real food yet. He did a little bit of yard work yesterday, but stopped and came inside when he got dizzy. He is going to have to start off slowly and listen to his body. It'll take a long time for him to get his energy back, but he is on the road to recovery. We saw the doctor on Friday and he got more fluids because his kidney function still wasn't right on Wednesday. They took blood again on Friday, but we haven't gotten those test results back yet. His mouth is still pretty beat up, but everything seems to be healing nicely. He hasn't needed any breakthrough pain medicine for several days now, so they'll probably lower the dosage of his pain patch in a week or so.

Things are better now that Al has gotten fluids for the past 3 days. He really hasn't been able to eat anything because everything burns. He has been sipping water though. He tried some ice cream today, but said it was too chalky tasting. He asked me to buy him some vitamin water to try. He is so frustrated that he can't eat. He thinks his mouth is healing and is hopeful that he'll be able to at least go back to the shakes soon. He needs some calories. He is still very tired. We should find out today if his kidneys are okay now.
The first grade had a little presentation last night. It was very cute and Brooke was really excited. She kept waving to me and Rachel while she was up on the stage. It was sad that Al couldn't be there.

Al passed out this morning. It was very scary. For some reason, he got up early and decided to take a shower. When he turned the water on, I told him to wait until he had something in his stomach since I knew he was dehydrated. I advised him to lie back down and wait for me, but do you think he listened? I ran downstairs to make him a shake and then I heard this loud crash. I ran upstairs to find him sitting on the bathroom floor falling over. I grabbed the phone to call for an ambulance, but he said to wait. He took a few sips of Gatorade and said he felt better. I yelled at him for attempting to get in the shower! He could have really hurt himself. He did hit his chin, but he says it's not too bad. Rachel wanted to know why Daddy couldn't walk. He insisted on getting that shower, so he sat through it while I waited, basically shaking. I managed to get him downstairs and to the treatment center where they pumped him with fluids and morphine. Thanks to friends, the girls were taken care of so that I could be with him all day. He isn't able to get a whole shake down anymore, so we will probably be going in for fluids until he can drink again. Hopefully, he'll feel better in a week. They told us he should start to feel better 2weeks after treatment ends.

Al was doing pretty well up until yesterday. He is in a lot of pain and says that it is radiating all over his mouth and head. He couldn't even finish 1 shake yesterday. I want to take him in for fluids tomorrow. We were told that the 2 weeks following treatment would be the worst, so this was to be expected.

Al finished treatment today!!!!!!!!! What a long and grueling 7 weeks. He hasn't gotten out of the bed much over the past couple of weeks and I expect that he will be sleeping a lot for weeks to come. That's probably the best thing he can do to recover. He is scheduled to return to work at the end of May. We will see the medical oncologist on Friday and once a week for some time. We won't see the radiation oncologist for another month. Al's neck already looks much better. His skin should heal well. We asked for a pain patch, which they gave him yesterday. It was just getting too difficult to swallow so many pills. The patch lasts for 3 days. It's actually a little bit stronger too, so hopefully that will relieve more of his pain. They told us they will lower the dosage gradually to avoid withdrawal symptoms.
I don't know how we could have gotten through this without the support of our family, friends, teachers, cancer survivors, neighbors and caring staff at the treatment center. I also met some wonderful people on line that offered lots of support and advice. It was so helpful to talk to other people that have survived this ordeal. It really eased my anxiety to know what to expect. I was prepared for the worst and not surprised by any setbacks along the way.
Let the healing begin!

It's Sunday now and I'm getting ready to take the girls to a birthday party. They really need to get out of this house and burn up some energy. Al has been dozing a lot this weekend. We will ask about a pain patch tomorrow because it is really hard for him to get all of these pills down. They tend to get stuck in his throat. He was nauseous yesterday afternoon, so it'll be good to get some fluids and anti nausea medication tomorrow. He got Morphine twice last week, which really helped with the pain. He even woke up in pain last night, so he had to take some Hydrocodone. He seems to be doing much better now that he is off the Ethyol. The doctors are pleased that he was able to tolerate it for so long. The yard is a mess, so hopefully he'll feel well enough to tend to that soon. We don't know if they plan to give him fluids on Tuesday, but we'll be done soon!

Al is currently getting chemo. He wasn't able to get it on Wednesday because his kidney function was still too low. He is also a little bit more anemic now. His knee is hurting and he hasn't done anything to injure it, so we don't know what that's about. They x-rayed it today and the doctor couldn't find anything. They also took blood to determine if he has gout. We'll find out on Monday. They told me to take him to the emergency room if he develops a fever. I sure hope that doesn't happen. He only has 2 treatments left. They will give him fluids on Monday since he won't be getting any over the weekend. I hope he has a decent weekend.