The recovery phase is going very slowly. Al still isn't able to eat much without it irritating his mouth and throat. He has lost a good 45 lbs so far. He can eat very small amounts of soft food. He still constantly watches the food network. He just decreased his pain medicine and says it feels like there is a knife stuck in his throat. We saw the doctor on Friday and he said that Al's throat still looks raw and inflamed. It'll just take time to heal. We didn't get the test results back yet, so we are waiting to see how his kidneys are doing. His energy level is increasing and he has even been able to mow the yard these past 2 weekends. He does have to take a break in between to avoid passing out. We also celebrated his birthday last week. He couldn't even have a piece of cake.

I'm kind of freaking out about the kidney disease discovery. However, I just hung up with the doctor and he said that 99% of cysts are not cancerous. He also said it looks like this is just a mild case. He said the kidney specialist (nephrologist) told him to have us wait a few weeks to be seen so that Al can get hydrated. The doctor said I should bring him in for fluids again this week. Al is currently sleeping and I'm not sure he will agree to that.
The anemia should correct itself in time, but it could take weeks or months. That will help with his lack of energy. The mucus problems have gotten much better, so he is sleeping better at night. The next big step will be to get off the pain medicine.
I guess I will just have to listen to him obsess about food. I know it is frustrating not being able to eat. He wants to order stuff off the Internet and I told him absolutely not!

The doctor called last night to give us the ultrasound test results. Apparently, Al has some underlying kidney disease, in addition to a cyst on his left kidney. I'm feeling pretty uneasy and nervous all over again. We don't know yet what this all means. He said we will need to see a kidney specialist once he is recovered. I think I'll call back today and see if we can just go ahead and be seen already. I don't really understand why he said to wait.
Al seems to be taking the news well. He is obsessing about purchasing a meat smoker. He brought the laptop upstairs and is researching some of the techniques he saw on the food network. He can't even eat solid food yet! He did manage to get down a couple of bites of fish last night. Oh, and he ate a piece of pear. But, it's such a chore to eat just a small amount of solid food. I'm researching kidney disease while he is researching meat smokers!

Happy mother's day to me! I just got back from the park with the girls. They were so excited to give me some plants they made at school. They also made some pictures for me. It was very sweet. I'll take them to McDonalds later. The weather is beautiful today, so I kept them at the park for over 3 hours.
I tried to get Al to go for a walk with us this morning, but he said no. He also didn't want to come to the park. He just wants to stay in the bed and watch TV. Oh, well.
He is going for a sonogram of his kidneys tomorrow. The doctor wants to determine why his creatinine levels keep rising. That is an indication that the kidneys aren't working properly. They also took a urine sample. We should find out what's going on later in the week. It's likely that this is all just a side effect of the chemotherapy.

We saw the medical oncologist today and he was concerned that Al hardly gets out of the bed. He is still anemic, but his numbers went up since last week. Of course, that is only part of the reason he is so tired. He has been losing weight quickly and according to his blood work, he is still dehydrated. You can see that he is pale. Also, his facial hair is pretty much all gone due to the radiation, so he really just doesn't look like himself. The doctor told him that it may take another 3 months before he is ready to return to work. He encouraged Al to stay for fluids. I'm not with him now because I had to pick Rachel up from school early. Both girls have been dealing with a little stomach bug. At least it's the weekend! Al also decreased his pain medicine the other day, but will increase it again today because he was experiencing too much pain. He is so anxious to return to work, but just isn't ready. The doctor told him that he just needs to give his body time to heal.

We had Brooke's birthday party yesterday. Al was in no condition to come, but he did. The girls had a blast. Al has been feeling very tired and queasy. He throws up about every other day. We see the radiation oncologist tomorrow and we'll see what she says. He is currently trying to eat some soup. He has been trying stuff, but hasn't had much luck. He had blood work done on Friday, but we didn't hear from the doctor, so that probably means everything is okay.