Thursday at the U . . .

So, I left for the U without brushing my teeth today . . . love that feeling of fuzzy little socks on my choppers all day. Talked to Bob in the morning before we all headed over the U. He said he ate all his breakfast this morning—I did a little "Whoo-hoo!" and congratulated him, but he said, "Don't get too excited—the portion sizes here aren't what you'd call generous. If they expect me to gain weight, they're gonna have to try harder than that—I mean, the danish I got was the size of an Oreo cookie. Could you ask my mom and dad to stop by SA or Holiday on their way in and pick up a real, full-sized bismark or something for me?" I take that as a sign that his appetite is back . . . at least for now!

Penny and Jim took the "morning shift" with Bob, and I arrived in the early afternoon. The team of people caring for Bob are doing a phenomenal job. They take his situation seriously and are working on getting the pain medications just right (going to be doing something different than before, different drug, even); the nutritionist came in and gave us some fabulous information about how to boost Bob's calorie intake (helluva problem to have, huh? I could have saved the insurance company a claim and shared my own guaranteed weight gain plan: Christmas cookies). She said it's important to go into chemotherapy in the best condition possible, and with a few more pounds, and suggested yummy things with lots of cheese, butter, ice cream, mmmmm . . . . oh, wait. . . that's for him, not me . . . 'course, it's stuff we already know, but hearing it from a professional may make that advice stick better than coming from the nagging wife. Started some PT and OT today; he got to take a walk around wing 7D. Said he almost got lost, it's such a maze. (I'll have to tell Bob when I see him tomorrow that the U's hospital, crazy though it is in layout, was designed as such so that at least 80% of the rooms have a good view of the city. Learned that from a client of mine who is a doc at the U.) Again, a busy day, but not nearly so crazy and disruptive as yesterday.

Bob'll be at the U most likely till Saturday. "They" (a collection of medical peeps) want to make sure everything is back on track before sending him home. Got a lot to monitor: sodium levels (almost up to par. Again, an interesting tidbit learned from my doc-client: Cysplatin, one of the chemo drugs Bob had, messes with the sodium levels of the patient and can lead to coma and/or kidney failure. The lethargy, weakness, headache, additional nausea and muscle cramps/convulsing in the PAs exam room were all likely the result of that. One of the docs at the U said he was surprised Bob wasn't worse off, because his sodium levels were so very low). Also got some exercises to work on in the hospital and at home, and hopefully have the nausea under control.

So. Another few more days at the U, and then home. Almost got one week under his belt already. Two more and it'll be time for the next phase of chemo. Keep those prayers, pixie dust, kind thoughts and words comin'! I'm learning, every day, more and more people are learning of Bob's situation and are praying for him. If I've said it before, I'll say it again, we can feel it. LOVE! to all!