make glemonade

Eric is finally home! It was 23 days total, which is better than many other transplant patients. It is still a very long time. It is difficult to describe how long each day feels. He passed the days showering, biking or walking in the small hallway outside his room, watching basketball and Judge Judy, listening to an ipod... it was a simple life. The fatigue made it so hard to get out of bed, as you can see from this <-picture! He was so tired so this is how he biked that day! Bless him. Visitors of the Week: My parents came for conference weekend to hang out with us and to help me clean the apartment before Eric's return. Initially they came just to visit, but I don't know if I could have got this place into ship shape without them! They were amazing. Cleaning ceiling vents, bathrooms, cupboards, washing everything in the house even if it was recently cleaned. My mom washed every single dish we own. Dad single-handedly cleaned our bathroom! We worked, and worked, and worke...

Eric did not come home today as hoped. He had a fever again late last night and thus will be kept at the hospital at least two more days. Probably longer with the way things are going. We'll keep you posted.

I know I'm not so quippy these days when it comes to titles, but I just can't be bothered with it. I cannot believe it has been a week since I last posted, longer even. It goes so fast and slow at the same time, as most things do that one is not accustomed to. Eric's ANC count has been at 0 for a few days now, which is a good thing. But he has been really sick because of it. This whole weekend he slept; I think he was awake about an hour or so each day total. He throws up almost everytime he tries to eat, which isn't all that often since he is so tired. They give him shots now like the ones they gave before he collected in order to stimulate cell growth, and the projected day to go home is Saturday (this would stem from 2 consecutive days of an ANC>.5). I won't hold them to it, but it would be really nice. Eric is drained, but mostly physically. He can't speak for himself right now because he is sleeping, but it would wear on anyone. I admire him so much f...

The next few days (days 3-5) were spent watching March Madness. That was pretty much all Eric did those days. Davy and Jeff came up for the first BYU game and they caused quite a stir. The nurses, etc. all loved the rowdy room! We are so proud of BYU for making it out of the first round! They had a really good season and we love them. That whole last week Eric got chemo twice a day, once in the morning and once at night... about 5 hourse total per day. It didn't make him feel sick much, but the first day was the worst. Lisa, Eric's sister came up and hung out a little too, but Eric fell asleep after one round of Yahtzee! Sunday (day 6) we thought was going to be a day of rest; they told us he wouldn't have any chemo or anything but they were wrong. He did have one chemo that day that was short. We turned the tv off on Sunday and Eric left his room for the first time. Walking around the hall is very anti-climactic because it is about 4 feet long. He rides the exercise bike i...

Day 1, March 16th. The room is great because they change the air completely 6 times an hour. Seriously they do. Alright you can't tell, but still it's comforting to know that the air your breathing is so fresh and so clean clean. It's strange because we arrived and got settled and they say, okay you have chemo at 12... so we'll see you then. Then they leave and you are free to just do whatever you want, just have to stay here. Eric has compared it to prison and/or the MTC. Eric was really proud of how much he peed here. He is on the chemo now, it's a 4 hour one today, the rest of them will be 2 hours, and that lasts for the next 5 or 6 days. After that it's transplant time, but we'll blog then to update rather than now when I really still don't know exactly what it will be like for him. I'm trying to convince Eric to blog so if you want to hear directly from him you should raise your hand (symbolically, i.e. comment) and tell him so that we can convi...

Before anything, we unbelievably forgot to mention that Bill (in the BYU Athletics Dept.) invited Eric to his office the other weekend and Austin Collie was there! You won't believe it, but he gave Eric his Super Bowl jersey. Yes, it's a real Super Bowl jersey. As some of you know, Eric and I have not had to go up to Salt Lake in one week! This has been a huge relief for now, and it is due to the fact that Eric collected on Monday last week. They needed to collect 5 million cells for his transplant, and after a long day of collection he produced over 9 million cells! If only we could sell his excess cells... haha. Actually we would willingly give them to anyone but I don't even know if that is possible or even useful in the medical world. All I know is Eric is a stud. He knows how to get it done. As for everything else, we have been waiting just like you have. Many people have sought me out looking for the next set of information, but I haven't had it to give yet. We h...

Just so you all know, the scan came back with very positive results. Our doctor said it is right where she expected it to be and that it bodes well for the transplant. Wheeeeeeeee! We are gearing up for the bone marrow transplant (hereafter referred to as BMT). It still isn't scheduled which is really pushing my patience. I like to have a plan of action and there just isn't one yet. I imagine it will go something like this: last chemo, 1 week recovery, 1 week shots, next week check in for BMT, Eric there for 3 weeks, I go up on weekends and stay at home weekdays for school. We're looking forward to chemo next week. Mostly because I love the Bistro at Huntsman Center (I highly recommend the roast beef and pepper jack panini)... oh yeah! And it's Eric's last chemotherapy session! No but really, let's look at the things we love about Huntsman: 1. the Bistro 2. the Infusion nurses- they are so much fun and they think we are hilarious, so of course we love them back!...

On Wednesday last week, Eric went up to Salt Lake for his bone marrow transplant consult. I was unable to attend due to my class schedule, so we are both anxious to get up there again and be able to ask questions. But here are some brief details and updates regarding the bone marrow transplant: The transplant will take place in March as expected, probaby the second week, though it is still not scheduled. This means we will miss going to the Mountain West Conference Tournament in Vegas and are very sad about it. However, we are very grateful for the huge opportunity this transplant is and do not even want to make that sound like even a shadow of a complaint. Plus, that inspired us to go to Vegas this weekend with a few of our good friends! Details coming shortly... So Eric will be back and forth to SLC quite a bit in these next couple weeks. Four times this week: one to put in this line, like a port that will prevent him from having to be poked with needles anymore, two to get the dress...

Man, all those times I used to make fun of the kids that wore pants that were too short for them. Serves me right, doesn't it? Eric left town for Vancouver this weekend, and I awoke early Friday morning to take my sister, Lisa, to the airport. I was starting to become coherent when my dear brother-in-law pounded on my bedroom door, almost throwing me into cardiac arrest. I opened the door already quite moody, and stepped into a river. Most of our apartment was sopping and the flow continued from the kitchen. Boo. It was the dishwasher. Yeah. Remember that one time we just got a new dishwasher installed?! Apparently some hose or other dishwasher rhetoric exposed our apartment to the harshness of a water world (and, no Coloradans, I'm not talking about the Water World where the Fun Shines). I had to take Lisa to the airport still, Jeff thankfully stopped the waterflow, and we have been living with 7 obnoxious fans in our apartment ever since. It also leaked into the two apartment...