Things are looking up.

I looked back to see when the last update was sent and was really surprised to see it has been since July 3. So much has happened since then. I will recap, somewhat.

On the 4th of July, in the afternoon, John's fever got higher. I called the doctor, it was the weekend and Dr. Shalaby was on call. (The doctor that had gone to Egypt.) He was pretty insistent that I take John in to the ER. My friends Johnanne and her sister, Jan had been at the house for a while helping me with some things. Alice was also there. We gathered a few things up, Jan went home and Johnanne followed us the the ER. I called to tell Allison that we were on our way. Allison was out of town on a fishing trip. She told me when we got there, for me to go in first, tell the front desk that I had a cancer patient with me that was running fever and had been on very aggressive chemo. She said that would get us in very fast. It worked like lightening! An attendant followed me to the car with a wheel chair. Johnanne walked up about that time and offered to park my car so I could go on in with John. We were taken straight in, to Pod (was it 6 or 9?). It was all the way to the very last part of the ER and they put us in the back corner. I don't think we could have been more isolated. This was a really good thing since chemo patients have compromised immune systems and exposure to bacteria and viruses could be very dangerous. There are lots of those floating around an Emergency room. We knew the ER doctor and he was quick to get to John and start running tests that Dr. Shalaby ordered. It was not dark when we left to go, so I would think it was somewhere around 8PM. Alice knows the dogs and the house in some ways better than I , she offered to spend the night with the dogs. Thank goodness she did. According to her, the fireworks were much worse that night than the night before. The dogs were traumatized. We communicated on the phone and I was successful in guiding her to tranquilize them enough that a loud TV would drowned out the firework noises that scare them so much.

After several tests, I asked if we would be staying the night. The ER doc said, "I don't think that John will be going anywhere tonight other than to a room. A couple of doctors that are friends with John heard that he was in the ER. They were called in for other patients and stopped by to check on John. This was another experience that told us that we are in the right place and it was good not to stay at Mayo in Scottsdale. Sometime around 2:30 AM, we were taken to our room. Johnanne and I drove and an ambulance had to transfer John to the Lakeside campus. That is the hospital that has the oncology floor. The Covenant system is quite large, here. The room was small but the nurses were incredible. Johnanne stayed the entire time and went to the room with us to help get John settled. The room was unbelievably hot. If I adjusted the temperature to 70 degrees, it turned off. If I set it at 60 degrees, hot air blew out. The IV machine that was hooked up to John was very loud and kept going off about every 10 minutes. Or more often if John moved his arm. The way the room was set up, the beep was next to the head of the couch/bed on which I was trying to sleep. Johnanne had left around 3:30 AM. The loud beeping had both John and me buzzing. We were so tired, it was early morning and there was no sleeping with that obnoxious sound.

I went to the nurses station around 4:30 and told them how hot the room was and how loud the machine was. An older nurse walked by and overheard what I was saying. She said that the whole hospital was impossibly hot. I was really glad to have a backup on this. A couple of minutes later, the same nurse brought in a floor fan and helped me set it up. I was so grateful because I was wet with sweat. I don't know when we got to sleep or really, if we ever did. I barely remember but, Dr. Shalaby stopped by and told us we could go home. Dr. Phillips stopped by to visit John since he was in the hospital seeing patients. I think word passes around that hospital faster than anyplace on earth. Sometime around noon, we were released to go to the house.

On Monday, Dr. Figurrero's office called to check on us since they had heard that we were in the hospital over the weekend. I told the nurse about what meds Dr. Shalaby had prescribed and Dr. Fig. immediately changed them and put him on something else. John continued to have a pretty rough week. On Thursday, we went to Arrington to have the constant pump removed for the week. This was the beginning of his week off of any treatment.

On Friday, Denise, John's daughter, and her family came to visit. They stayed until Sunday morning. We had a great visit. John was weak and was easily tired but, he was so glad to have them here. The kids were great. They swam and their cousin, Chandler spent the night. On Saturday, Debbie, Gary and the Lubbock Dickey Chicks came to visit. John was tired but was really happy to have his daughter and 5 of his grandchildren here.

Fast forward to the next Thursday, which was last Thursday. We saw the Doctor. He was pleased with how John looked and with how is blood levels are. We then went to start the Chemo. The nurses could not get blood out of his port. For those that don't know, the port was surgically placed in his upper left chest in order to always have a line to deliver the chemo. This is done so they wouldn't have to stick him with a new IV every week. The nurse tried and tried to get blood to come and never could. The doctor wanted us to have an xray done. We had now been at Arrington for about 2.5 hours. We walked down several hallways to get to radiation. The lobby was full. We were told there that in order to have an xray, we would have to go to admissions. I explained that we had been in the building getting blood, seeing doctors and trying to get chemo for some time and I didn't understand why we had to be admitted. The girl told me that this is the way it is so, we went to admissions. I asked the admissions person if there is now a system wide computer, why in the world would we need to be admitted and show John's insurance card, list of medications, and all the other question that they asked since he has been a constant patient for so long. She didn't know but agreed with me that all of this is pretty inefficient and extremely stressful on patients and their caregivers. After some time waiting, a man that works in admission, spent about 2 minutes with John and sent us back to radiation. The girl at the window asked if John was on any medications. By this time, I was tired and was irritated that she wanted the 4 page list. That ANYONE wanted it AGAIN!! These must have been put in the system wide computer system, at least 10 times. I guess my body language told her that I didn't have the list with me and told me never mind. After 30 minutes, John was called back for his xray. The lobby was still pretty full. About an hour later, someone came from the back to tell me that it would be a while because it appeared that John had a clot in the port and they were waiting for the doctor to call back. Another 30 minutes went by and John came out. We went back up the halls to Arrington We were told it was too late to do the chemo even if they could open the port, since the procedure takes a minimum of 7 hours.

We saw Dr. Fig. again. He apparently had been on the phone to see if someone could surgically replace the port. It was late in the day and he could not find anyone that he wanted to do it.. He also is hesitant to expose John to a surgical procedure due to his compromised immune system. He had his nurse give us a weeks worth of injections, to be given once per day, in the stomach, to attempt to open the port chemically. If that doesn't work, John will have to have anesthesia in order to change the port out. We will find out about that this coming Thursday.

A little side story. Yesterday, a woman that bought one of Lil's puppies from us, 9.5 years ago, came by to visit with the now totally grown up, Gracie. She was living in Menlo Park, CA. when Gracie went to live with her, they then moved to the Denver area. She has just taken a new job to run a small software company in Austin. She wanted to stop by since she was driving through Lubbock. Gracie is a litter mate to Lucky. They came about 8:30 AM. Allison came, too. Allison was at our house when Gracie left to go home with the women that bought her. We took pictures, and had a very nice, if short visit. Allison stayed and helped me for 7 hours getting through some paper work and helping me to get our bills paid. Thank you so much, Allison. Paper work is my hardest task. You made if very tolerable and you helped me solve some problems that needed solving.

This past week has been not bad for John. He is feeling a lot better since he is not on the chemo but, he still gets very tired very fast. We have wonderful next door neighbors that have 2 sons that mow our yards for us. They came today. I bathed and dried and groomed the dogs which took several hours. Nash has a lot of real estate covering his body! John kept up with what was going on by checking on my project and helped the boys some, with theirs. By the time we finished, around 7:30 or so, John was very tired. I gave him his evening meds and tube fed him. He went to bed. We still have several days before we go back on Thursday. I am glad to see John feeling better but, it is very hard on him to not be able to work around the house. What he loves to do more than anything is to work. He loves yard work. It is very frustrating for him. I understand that but, it worries me for him to push himself because of the clot.

Today, John and I had an appointment with an insurance person. We accomplished getting him off of Cobra and getting him registered with a Medicare supplement policy. That cut back on a big expense. I now have to find insurance for me since Cobra is so expensive. After the appointment, we went to have Mexican Food at Garcia's which is our favorite Tex-Mex restaurant. After our late lunch, John wanted to go to Barnes and Noble. We had some gift certificates left over from Christmas. We spent a couple of hours there. It was the most normal day we have had in months. It makes a big difference when some time passes without the poisons being put in his body. We bought a few books, came home and both of us collapsed. I sometimes wonder why I get as tired as he does. Seems like I should have a lot more energy than he does but, some days, I don't.

I appreciate all of you very much. There are quite a lot of you that have been inquiring since it has been a while since I have written. It seems the days fly by. I am doing a lot of the things that John used to do and I let the time get away with me. I will try to do better and keep you informed more often. It is really great knowing that we have such great friends that care so much. Keep those phone calls, emails, cards and thoughts coming in. It is remarkable how much they help.