Ephermeral -- Word for the Day -- Saturday, August 16, 2008

Ephemeral
DEFINITION: (adjective) quickly disappearing; transient.

Had the transplant on Thursday, August 14 at 11:00. ChemoSabe got to hold all the babies in his hands. All 2.1 million of them. It took about 10 minutes to put them in. He has 19.2 million in storage. He had to suck on peppermints while they were going in to deter the aftertaste. The lady next to him claimed "sweet corn', but ChemoSabe claimed "roasted corn". We celebrated by going to Chili's to eat. He had sweet tea, I had unsweet. Gosh... aren't we boring?

Ephemeral is the cancer that dares to eat away at ChemoSabe's body. His reports show no evidence of MM with little change in his lesions except for one that is shrinking. He still has two tiny fractures in the T7 and T9 location of his back. That is the lower spine just above the kidney area. AND, he still goes like the Ever Ready bunny.

Tomorrow we are looking at the possibility of blood. His counts are going down slowly except for the Platelets which are still 248 (remember, 20 is the low we worry about). He got to UAMS this morning at 8:30 and didn't get home until 12:00. He was a bit slow to start the day because of energy, but quick to get up at 6:00 a.m. because the steroids are still in his system. Friday was the last day for those.

He didn't sit down when he got home. He wiped down his truck a little and then we went shopping. When we got home he hinted he wanted to ride, but after thinking about it he hit the recliner around 7:00 p.m. and then up to bed at 10:00. He didn't even make it through a movie I had rented.

His energy is Ephemeral. I believe by Monday his WBC will be close to 3.00 or 2.00, with 2.00 being our concern. The nurses have told him to wear his mask at the hospital, but I don't believe he is. I haven't gone with him the last two days, but I will probably need to take him tomorrow.

Wingman and Shooter surprised us with two hats this week. It was such a thrill. ChemoSabe's has "ChemoSabe", of course, on the front and mine has "Tonto". Both have the word "Persevere" on the back. If you guys remember, that was the very first word I used in our blog. Aren't these two special?

Tomorrow is to be a wonderful day for riding, but I do not see it coming. I see his hinney dragging and then coming home and hitting the recliner again. I am fixing a pot of beans with cornbread, so that will be enough to convince him to stay in-house.

I have been double cleaning and preparing for the low WBC. I spray the counters every night with PineSol. This week will have to lock the kids out of the house and not let them past the sun room. Pete tried to bring in a Katydid again tonight. He thought he was going to take it straight to the reclincer where ChemoSabe was asleep, but I blocked the door.

I had my stress test yesterday and the heart doctor confirmed I am heartless. Everything is fine and I don't need an oil change. I didn't ask questions, I just told him I was happy to hear the news and headed out. God is good... I didn't want to wait around for that now common saying amoung my doctors, "At your age and weight." Do I pay they for that?

Please pray for us this week in our visit to the Big Doc. Also, pray for ChemoSabe's strength and energy as if he has just an ounce of it he will be working. Pray he will have the wisdom to know when he can't when he thinks he can. He will come down fast and will probably take 3-4 days to come back up.

He had some heavy chemo skin aroma this week and some more unusual aroma after the stem cell induction. An aura of bleach. It seemed to be coming out of his pores. Even after he took a shower, it could not be erased. Yesterday and today were much better.

He has not had any problems with blisters, sores or bleeding in his mouth. The reason for the massive intake of ice during the chemo was to prevent those side effects. Looks like it worked. He also sucked on lemon drops.

He is just blessed that he has come so far in so little time with very little side effects. He is still having the hiccups, but I foresee those will be Ephemeral by tomorrow.

We spent a lot of our afternoon together and I could see the weakness in his eyes. He looks sad, but he was happy. I see his eyebrows vanishing and I believe his eyelashes are dropping. I do not tell him this. Next week, everything will probably be gone completey because of the big dose of chemo on Wednesday. We spoke to a man today that says when his sister-in-law lost her white hair to chemo it came back massive black. Can you imagine ChemoSabe with massive black hair? Oh my.....Would I have to?lllllll..... No, I am staying white. I did the blond to black when I was in high school. Won't ever put anything on it again. He will just have to tell people he married an older woman..

Well... starting that rambling thing again.

Thank you Aunt Nornie for the card, Thank you Wingman and Shooter for the hats, Thank you Billy and Sherry for the T-Shirts, Thank you Son for checking on us and making us call you when we get home, AND, Thank you God for taking care of us every day!

Good night and Love --- Pepper (Tonto)

p.s. What do you think about this tatoo? Lone Ranger and Tonto on my outer calf with ChemoSabe and Tonto captioned underneath? OR, should I just stick with that Turnip thing? ha