The Good, The Bad, and The Handsome.

The Good:

As we headed towards Thursday, both of us increasingly became nervous for the meeting with the doctor and then chemo #2. You would think having done it once we would feel more calm, but that was not the case for us. Maybe it will come with time. From the moment we entered the Cancer Institute, however, everything ran like clockwork and we didn't have time to think about nerves.

The woman working in Financial Assistance was ready for us as soon as we arrived, but I was more ready for her! I handed her my neat, 2 inch stack of paperwork, and she looked over it all. She was pleasantly surprised by my efficiency.

Next, Eric was weighed... and please note this is in the good news section of the post. Eric is now a chubby 134 lbs. which is 6 lbs. heavier than the previous appointment. The nurse called him a heffer.

Next we met with our doctor. She was excited about the weight gain and all the other progress he has shown since chemo #1. One of the tests they do on your blood is called and LDH (no, we don't know what it means). BUT last time he was there, his LDH was 1900 and the normal persons is <600. Eric's is now 594!

They are also going to do a bone marrow transplant on Eric after the chemo is finished. This will allow them to kill every last cancer cell in his body. They take the bone marrow cells out around #5 and freeze them. Then when he is finished with chemo completely, they will transplant them back into his body. Each of the cells they remove is like a homing pigeon and returns to its exact previous location. Amazing, isn't it? The doctors don't even understand how the cells know how to do it. Not only is this awesome procedure available to Eric, but it will hopefully take place during March Madness, which will provide ample entertainment for Eric the Impatient Inpatient.

The Bad:

There really was so little bad news that we have nothing to complain about. However, the bone marrow transplant will keep Eric in the hospital for 1-2 weeks, up to 4 weeks. He is being optimistic since it is in March (see above).

One funny side effect we have noticed to the chemo is that Eric mixes up his words. I asked the doctor about this, and she said oh yes. It's called "chemo brain" around here. Eric's makes it so he literally says the exact opposite of what he means. For example: "Man that light is bright as night!" You get the idea. They have shirts that say "I have chemo brain. What's your excuse?"

Only other bad news is obvious. We were excited that his hair hasn't fallen out yet, so I asked if maybe he wouldn't lose it at all since everything else is going so well. The doctor cut me off and assured us wholeheartedly that he would lose it in the next two weeks. Rats.

The Handsome.