Round 2 so far

I have been posting to Facebook, but forgetting to post here. I am at the hospital alone this time, because we felt our other children really needed one of us home. Here are the updates so far:

June 29th, 9:55 am

Got to the hospital, and they couldn't find us on their list. Come to find out, our chemo visits were moved to start on Tuesdays. Since we're here, they're trying to make it work. Whoops.

June 29th 12:25 pm

Settling into our room. Lunch is ordered, things unpacked, Despicable Me 2 on the TV. So far, so good.

June 29th 2:46pm

I had been thinking about getting some watercolor pencils for Mark, just because they're cool, but it hadn't occurred to me what a gift they would be to my perfectionistic artist son who hasn't wanted to draw much since his treatment started. The art therapist had some he could use while we're here in her cart. They are beautiful and so forgiving, and he is on his second picture already. "These are so cool," he just said, smiling. And he talked to us some about how he's feeling while he was coloring. Such a blessing! Now to get some to use at home :).

June 29th 7:01 pm

You know your life has changed when you are scrolling through your news feed and see the term "My daughter's in heaven..." and your heart stops and your first thought is, "I didn't realize she was sick. I wonder how she died." My friend was speaking metaphorically, but evidently my mind doesn't work that way anymore. Cara Omanson Combs, I'm glad she was actually excited and happy :). Scared me.

June 29 10:10 pm

I know many of you are praying for Mark. He's having a really rough time this go around: nausea, vomiting, and uncontrollable diarrhea. Continued prayers are appreciated. Cancer sucks, btw.

June29 11:47pm

The power of your prayers is being felt. He is resting peacefully now, finally getting some decent sleep. Thank you everyone!

June 30th 9:30AM

The vomiting stopped last night and the nausea has abated some, but the diarrhea is still a problem, so they're testing for intestinal bacteria. Until that comes back he's on a contact alert so the staff has to gown up  to come in now. He also fell this morning while brushing his teeth, cutting two toes on his iv pole and banging his leg up a bit. And although it's better now, for about half an hour this morning he had a really hard time finishing sentences. He would say three words and then his mouth would stop working right and he would just mumble. He'd start again, get three words out, and the same thing would happen. Then he'd forget what he was trying to say. Very frustrating. But right now he's working on a crossword with the OT.

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Right now, he is sleeping. He has been talking a lot, but he's been out for a little over three hours now, which is good since he was awake at 6am this morning. His eyelids are becoming puffy from the fluid they must pump into him before and after his chemo treatments due to their toxicity, and he hasn't eaten anything since yesterday afternoon. He colored a bit for the OT this afternoon, but got frustrated with the crossword puzzle. He slept through the time allotted to see his PT. He has to have someone stand in the bathroom with him while he's going, because we don't want him to fall again.

Last night, at one point, he got angry and began telling about how much he just wished the cancer would go away. Today, when the doctor asked him if he had a,y questions, he responded with "Yah. Why am I here?" She began to explain it was so he could receive chemo, etc, but he cut her off with a shake of his head. That wasn't really what he was asking. 

--Wendi