Treatment Day 5

HIP, HIP, HOORAY! Chris did it! He has successfully completed Week One of treatment. He received his final dose of IL2 this morning at 6 am. Believe it or not, we actually got up at 2:30 this morning to walk the halls before his blood draw at 3. We wanted to make sure his platelet count would make one more dose. Sure enough, it did! The final dose knocked Chris down hard. It took him most of the day to recover. From what we understand, it will take the weekend and part of next week to really get him back to full strength. We've made friends with some of the other patients on the floor. Their stories are encouraging. Our next door neighbor Steve is on his second round of treatment. After his first CT scan, his tumors shrunk 64%! This evening Chris and I went out to walk the hall and bumped into Steve and his wife Sue. Chris and Steve walked and discussed their aches and pains. They've had very similar side effects. I walked with Sue and shared our comparative stories as caretakers. There is no one better to understand what you are going through than someone else going through it. I have to take a moment to thank our biggest support group of all. My mom, dad, Chris' dad, and stepmother for everything they did this week and will do in the weeks to follow. Without them, I wouldn't have had coffee, or food, or someone to be with Chris while I went to the bathroom. We are so very lucky to have such wonderful, supportive parents. I'm going to end this now because Chris and I are celebrating our last night here with a movie and the fireworks from the Bison game! Please keep checking the blog. I plan on writing next week while we are home. And then of course, I will continue to update our progress during our hospital stay the week of July 9th. Thank you for all your comments! I read them every day. Chris reads them every evening. Your love, support and words of encouragement are helping carry us through! xo, Teresa