Guest Writer: Lyn (9/18/04)

Greetings all. Just an entry from Eric's wifey today to let you know that he is hanging in there. There's nothing amiss... he just doesn't feel up to sitting and writing.

Treatments are finally over this week... he made it through. The cumulative effect of the chemo has been awful this time around. He is exhausted and has not been able to eat much of anything other than toast, broth and ice since midweek. The two days following the end of chemo (that would be today and tomorrow) are usually the worst, so by Monday or Tuesday Eric should be feeling a little better. So for now, it's sleep, sleep and more sleep. (Oh, and Saturday college football games... go Penn State!)

Good news is that the latest CBC (complete blood count) showed that Eric's hemoglobin is finally on the upswing. Good news because if it didn't go up they were going to do a transfusion. Yuk. The upswing is also good news because this will help Eric to feel less tired. (He is currently living with about half the hemoglobin any of us have.)

Started Neupogen injections for his white blood cells this morning... I learned to give these at home so he doesn't have to go to the ER or doc's office to get them. We usually do this for a 5-day period every 2 or 3 weeks. His white counts have been excellent thanks to this drug so his immune functions have been uncompromised.

Goal for the weekend: Pour as much liquid into him as possible so he doesn't get dehydrated... this is our biggest challenge every cycle. (You would/could never imagine it, I bet. But Eric is actually stubborn about it... it must be awful to feel sick from just drinking something as ordinary as water.)

So there's the update... Eric'll be back to writing in no time!