Spring time

Lots of good things to be said for Spring. School is nearing the end. Its baseball and soft ball season. There are school field trips The weather is perfect for playing outside. This time of the year is so fun, and frankly, work just doesn't work for my schedule :) We are getting back into our routine which is such a blessing. I'm starting to plan our summer. Calfa University will be in full swing along with camps. We have to avoid crowds this summer, but hopefully we'll get to Port Aransas in August. But today its...Popsicles!!

Zoo field Trip

Wednesday I went with Zachary to the Abilene zoo. I was amazed at how well behaved and respectful he was. Not exactily how he is at home ;) They had some classroom time and were able to pet a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach, a pancake tortoise, a corn snake and a guinea pig named Dr Pepper. Their new classrooms are pretty nice and there are a couple areas of construction. The weather was perfect and we had a nice picnic lunch. I got a big kick out of listening to Zachary and counting how many sentences he started with "Tony says...." Trust me, if there's something to know about animals, Tony knows. When we go to that zoo Tony is our personal tour guide. He knows the animals names, where they came from, how long they've been at the zoo, what they eat....on and on. When I asked Zachary if he wanted to go to zoo camp with Tony he said "Nah, I'll just learn whatever I need to know from Tony." Too funny.

Easter

These pics are a bit late, but I am excited to say that Brian is doing well and that his scan was clean on Friday and he no longer has to wear that stupid mask. Our family definately has lots to be thankful for. I was at work Easter day so I missed pis of church and egg hunting, but here's a couple of the school parties.

Day +14

Well, Brian was discharged from the hospital Tuesday. His dad met us at the hospital and we went over to the apartment and got settled in. I came home Wednesday after stopping at the store and picking up essentials like milk, bread, etc. We havent been home in over a month. Brian looked pretty rough Tuesday and Wednesday when I left, but his labs continue to rise. They will check them again tomorrow. He will be on antiviral meds for at least a year and he will do Rituxan again in 3 to 6 months. But compared to what he just did this is nothing. Rituxan is given once a week for 4 weeks and then repeat every 6 months. Its a newer cancer med so it doesnt have all the side effects, it just makes him feel flu-like for a day or two.

So Brian's dad is staying in the apartment with Brian and I'm home with the kids. I work Friday but will be back home Saturday for Angie's 9th birthday. I can't believe she is nine. I keep telling her to quit growing, but she keeps doing it anyway. she said she wanted to do her party when Brian got home, so I picked her up a little gift anyway and will get cupcakes or something one the way home tomorrow night.

I'll try to get photos up later of the easther parties.

Day +9

Today was a bit disappointing to start out with. The lab computer system was down, so it was well after 9A before the results were back. Brians counts havent budged at all yet and he had to have more platelets today. Ugghhh. We were both not too pleased, and we are itching to get out of here. He is set up to be discharged to the Twice Blessed apartments on Tuesday, if his counts come up. IF being the key word here.

The highlight of our day was getting a visit from John and Sue and Jeff. They hung out with us and we can always count on John to have fun board games. I could tell that Brian was tired, but he really enjoyed their company. He took a short nap while John, Sue and I went to get food. Sue treated me to Freebirds. Bless you Sue for sparing me from hospital food. Brian still can't eat much, but he did truck on down to the family room afer his nap and we played another round of Torchstone. Sue left us a game called San Juan. Brian and I have it at home. Its one of the few games that's actually fun with two people.

I'm a little nervous about Tuesday. Brian's dad is coming, which I really appreciate, but I hate the idea of being at work and leaving him to figure out his way around. The streets around the hospital are typical downtown one way streets. I've been debating about calling in, but I can't really justify calling in for a "possible" discharge. Brian says he doesn't think he'll get out of here by Tuesday. Truthfully, Wednesday works better for me. We'll see. Its not my plan or my schedule. I will try really hard to do things according to God's perfect timing.

The kids seem to be doing well. Mom said that Emi started calling her mama and she keeps correcting her. Talk about breaking my heart. She knew me when I went home but that was over two weeks ago. Tony got his woulf badge tonight in cub scouts and Denise was gracious enough to take him for me. They called afterward and Tony and Angie sang us a song they made up about us coming home.

I can not wait for that.

Day +6

Well, today like most days was a mixture of good and bad. Brian has been pretty "lucky" in that he only has a few side affects according to his Dr. The bummer is that he is going to have to deal with them until his counts start to go up. His Doctor said that he thought he'd get out of here next week. Praying that happens. We are ready to be home with our kids. We've both said that we are never eating hospital food again. I get it here and then again at work. Ugh. I did pick up a few snacks and theres always pb&j.

Brian's counts were really low today. WBC <100, HCT 24.5, Platelets 6K, TP 0, ANC 0. For the nonmedical readers, Yikes. Well, he got blood and platelets today and was kind of nauseated all day. We didnt care for his nurse today. She was a no it all that spent all day talking down to him. Funny, Brian says "I don't care for her". Brian likes EVERYONE. But, thankfully, we like our nurse tonight. He's running a bit of temp tonight.

Angie and Tony are going on a GT field trip. They get to do a tour of the TV station as part of their study of broadcasting. Over spring break, mom came to Fort worth to get a play set from a friend at work. It took up my dad's truck and stock trailer. Mom said that Aiden kept asking to put it together every five minutes. So, Mom, Aiden, and Zachary pulled the twisty tube slide out and she said that the two boys and Emi played in the tubes forever.

The Doctor says that we are getting out of here next week. Praying this happens. That would be one step closer to home.

Day+3

For those of you worrying, I don't have much to post. From my nursing standpoint Brian is doing pretty well, considering. His spirits are good and he's been walking at least four times a day. They put these stars up for every transplant they do and we are anxiously waiting for his to go up. He's had a couple of gi issues apparently this is common because the chemo kills the mucosal lining. He feels like food sticks sometimes and can't taste very well but he makes himself eat. We've gotten close to another family here. The husband/father, Ed has been on a vent for 21 days now. His transplant went well, but then he got an rsv infection. I continue to pray for them every day. You can tell they are a loving family. I mention this because their son who has to be in his twenties, offered us a tube of diaper rash cream. How funny is that. He said he doesn't have a Colon so he's tried every brand and he orders one by the case. He says he offers it to everyone he knows. Too funny. They are a God loving catholic family. The wife said that they went to Hawaii for 5days before the came here and she is thankful for that time. She also says she knows that Ed is in gods hands and that she's just along for the ride and that he just wanted more time with their children. Not so different from us huh?

The nursing staff are nice but they don't do much for Brian. This should irritate me,but frankly I'd like to keep it that way. We don't see too many other pts on our walks so I'm assuming that Brian is doing well. A famous football players son is here. In the interest of HIPPA I won't say who, but I will say that he didn't seem be MEAN at all, and had some encouraging words for Brian when we were out walking last night. The men can all tell you his stats, but to me he was just a nice man battling the fact that a son he loves has leukemia.

Talking to the kids tonight was good. I talked to Angie for a long time and I hope we always have that. I love hearing all the tiny details of her day, and I can always count on Tony to crack me up. Zach, oh my zachadoodle, what can I say? I even enjoy his difficultness. Brian is known as the guy that has five kids. Even here, we endure peoples shocked comments. Maybe it makes some feel even more pity, but I wouldn't change a single thing. Brian's second birthday card says "my children are my greatest gift". When the secretary asked him to tell her about himself that was the very first thing he said. They are the reason that he gets up and endures this every morning and as our new friend says, "I'm just along for the ride"