WBC's

Eric had his blood tested yesterday. His white blood cell count has improved greatly, it more than tripled since last time he was tested. So the shot worked and he'll have round 7 on Tuesday. And he will be getting the Neulesta shot each week now to ensure the WBC count stays high enough.

He's been feeling pretty good the last couple of days. He said he's able to taste some foods again, which he loves. He still has some mouth sores and it's difficult for him to eat anything that is hard or has a hard shell or even nuts. I made some Pretzel M&M treats today, he had a hard time with those. But he's still ok with plain chocolate and things like that. (And donuts.. and soft cookies...) We're going to have a date night tonight and have dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse. We'll see how that goes! Looking forward to going out together.

Syracuse has had 45" of snow already (as of yesterday) and it's not even winter yet. I feel like we live in a snow globe. Thursday night it took me 2 hours to go 13 miles. Worst commute I've ever had. Thankfully most everyone was just going slow and being safe. It just takes a lot more time to get anywhere when it's snowing that hard! I think we're in for an interesting winter.

Working Hard

Eric sent me this picture of himself today from his desk. 

It was in response to this photo that I sent him of me (and my co-worker Mary.) My company took us to a long lunch "meeting" today at the local Movie Tavern. We got to eat lunch and watch a fun movie and go back to work 3 hours later. Work perks are so nice! 

Eric's doing ok though (other than being thoroughly jealous of my fun day), he's got some mouth sores that are bothering him and his stomach hasn't been very happy. He's eating and drinking as he should be though. Hopefully he's kept the few pounds on that he gained last week. I've been buying him lots of donuts. He seems to be tolerating and enjoying the sugar filled, calorie loaded treats, so I pick a couple up whenever I go to Wegmans. 

Update

Not much new to report. Eric is doing ok. The side effects from the Neulasta shot weren't as bad as they could have been, so that was a plus. We'll find out Friday if the shot worked and brought up his white blood cell count. If it did, he'll probably be on the schedule for another infusion on Tuesday the 20th.

Is everybody ready for Christmas? I just realized it's next Sunday. I've got lots to do still. Shopping to finish, gifts to wrap, cookies to bake and packages to mail. (Sorry mom, I'll get it out this weekend!) Here's to a busy (and hopefully healthy) next couple of weeks.

Bugs

Well, this weekend didn't really go quite as planned. I went to my company Christmas party on Friday without Eric. We were concerned about him picking up germs. I was only there a couple of hours. And he had a friend visit while I was gone. So that was all good.

On Saturday we just hung out. I got some groceries and picked up Chinese food for dinner. Hours later, I was in the bathroom for the night. I picked up some nasty stomach bug. (Or food poisoning... we're not really sure.) By the morning I was feeling well enough to start bleaching everything I might have touched and laundered everything I was in contact with. And now we hope that Eric won't get the bug. Or whatever it was. We ate different things, so if it was food poisoning, it wouldn't hit him.

So that's all I really have to report for the weekend. Hoping for a good week ahead.

Side Effects Suck

Eric says "Fork you, side effects!"

He's starting to have a rough time with all the side effects. Not only does he have the usual chemo side effects, now he'll have the Neulasta side effects too. He came home tonight exhausted and not wanting to eat. He ended up taking a nap then got up and had some eggs. He's got the cold fingers (and neuropothy to go along with it). The mouth sores are coming back already too. And the general overall "blah" feeling.

He had his pump removed today and had the Neulasta shot. They said he should stock up on Aleve to help with the bone pain he may endure, beginning in a couple of days. That sounds pleasant, doesn't it? Poor guy. 

We're Half Way There.

So, the good news is, Eric had his 6th Chemo treatment today. The bad news is, his White Blood Cell count was still low. But they had him do the Chemo anyway. Eric was a little concerned about that. (I was too.)

Last week his WBC count was at 1.1. It's supposed to be higher than 1.5. Today is was 0.8. On Thursday he'll be receiving a Neulasta shot. Neulasta helps the body make white blood cells. He can't have the shot until 24 hours of having chemo. And since he'll be having the dreaded pump removed on Thursday, they will give him the Neulasta shot at the same time. He's not looking forward to any "extra" side effects from the shot... the Chemo side effects are back with a vengeance today. 

In the meantime, he needs to stay away from germs and people with germs. I do wish he'd just stay home, but he insists on going to work. He did pick up a mask today that he can wear so he doesn't catch anything. 

Today he had a couple of visitors. Gary was there (and he also drove him home) and Bob P. stopped by again too. It's so nice that Eric has such a great family and friends. Once Bob got there, I headed back to work. It's such a relief knowing that there are people there with him so I'm able to go back to work without worrying about him. We've both pretty much run out of time off, so conserving what little time we have left is a very good thing.

That blanket you see on Eric's lap -- it's heated. And it's lovely.

Santa stopped by. Eric thinks he might have passed gas while passing out gifts. 

Jammin'

Eric is spending the evening creating music. He's mentally preparing for what lies ahead tomorrow. 

Jenny spent the evening playing with her new duck.