Date night & blessings

Today is Friday June 4, 2010. Chad and I are sitting in his hospital room having date night. We are watching TV and just relaxing. It isn't home, but we'll take it! He is feeling good for the most part and I think the transfusion really helped. His color looks good and he has had more energy today. His only pain has been because he is starting to develop painful mouth and throat sores-Chad calls it the white patch...let's see how many of you know about that ;) This is another side effect of chemo. They gave him a prescription for that and it is starting to help. He has also had terrible acid reflux which they say is probably from all the medicine and all the laying around. Also started medicine for that. So over all, after everything else, these are minor things and he is feeling good. YEAH! Although I'm scared to jinx it I'll say it anyway, he might come home tomorrow!

His hemoglobin level was up to 9.8 this morning up from the low 7s from yesterday so that's good. They kept him again today because his white blood count is very low. Normal is between 4000 & 10,000 and Chad's is only 700. White blood cells are the ones that fight off infections. It is normal for cancer patients receiving chemotherapy to lose white blood cells so they expected this, just not so quickly. This low of a white blood count makes him "neutropenia" - which basically means he is very susceptible to infections and illness. They have put a sign on his door that says NEUTROPENIA - everyone must was their hands when they enter the room, no fresh fruits and no flowers are allowed in and people that are sick should not enter. It looks a little scary and would freak me out if I was coming to visit someone and didn't know what it meant. It is not as bad as it sounds. Basically just gotta be extra careful and wash our hands a lot. Stay away if your sick...Common sense kind of stuff. They gave him a small IV bag of some kind of medicine (forgot the name) this afternoon that will stimulate his body to make white blood cells. I have faith will work quickly and his levels will be up soon.

I want to thank everyone for their unbelievable generosity and support. I about hit the floor today at work when my coworkers surprised me with a heart felt card and a very generous gift. I still tear up when I think about it. I have been with the company for 6 years and I think of them as a second family. I am so blessed to work with such awesome people that genuinely care so much for others. A special thank you to Stephanie who has been going through a similar situation for over a year and a half with her Dad. She is an inspiration to me and she is proof that God puts people in our lives for a reason. We have had many other wonderful people send cards, gifts, and blessings and it just melts my heart every time we receive one. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I can't say it enough. really. I wish I had a way to let you all know just how much it all really means to me.