Sharing the rules...

Dear all,

Despite this stern looking note, the folks on Ellison 14 are quite nice and are doing their best to keep my favorite guy comfortable.

Some tidbits: As of tonight Steve is more than halfway through the chemo - thank God - and coming around to the virtues of Atavan (used to help his horrendous hiccups). They are pushing MEGA fluids, so the poor guy is only getting an hour's sleep here and there (although the Atavan helps with falling back to sleep, too... if it weren't illegal, I'd pinch one for myself!) At least he looks less puffy than yesterday, when he had put on 17 lbs from the day before, due to the fluids. Today he met with the Physical therapist and was happy to report -Steve is competitive!- that he is the only patient on the floor who knows his VO2 max. He doesn't have much of an appetite, but is well stocked in individually-wrapped, low bacteria options such as cheddar goldfish, granola bars, and Milano cookies. Oh, and he has a neighbor on the ward with mantle cell, amazingly.

The driving back and forth has been fine for me; I fell guilty saying that I've been able to open my sunroof for the first time this season... all this while Steve is stuck with filtered air and can't even venture into the hallway outside of his room. It's supposed to be 70 tomorrow; here's hoping we have the most gorgeous May/June ever, so that Steve can hopefully enjoy that while recuperating!

His spirits are high, his sense of humor is intact, and when I left he was speaking Greek with Kristina, one of the nurses. It's nice to be Thursday, and the way we see it, the faster this goes by, the BETTER...

Thanks for the thoughts and prayers,

Kath