Chemo and recovery

Sorry for the delay in this update. We know a lot of you have been waiting to hear some news. The past week has been slow and tough for Carol. She's been dizzy, nauseous and hasn't had a lot of strength or appetite, as expected.

Saturday Jeri came for the day to relieve Jaime while he came home to do some errands. She also brought some Miso broth, fruit, and healthy suppliments. Carol was smiling for the first time she could remember in several days =]. I came in the evening and Jaime came back later on.

On Sunday, April 4th she had her last dose of chemotherapy and had already been feeling better beforehand. She had been reading as well as asking for, eating and retaining food. She had strawberries, a banana, half of a bagel with cream cheese and some Miso soup broth. At night, I stayed in the room and Jaime went home to do some errands and get a night of rest in his bed.

Today is the first day with no chemotherapy though some of the side effects still linger. They are being counteracted pretty well by drugs. This morning we shared an egg and cheese omelet and French toast, and then she had some more bagel with cream cheese. The next thing we are waiting for is her bone marrow biopsy around the 14th day of her stay at Moffitt. That will tell us whether the chemotherapy was successful in putting the leukemia blast cells into a full remission. Afterwards, preparation will begin for the bone marrow transplant. Donor matching test kits are being prepared for shipping to Carol's siblings, Michael and Susan.

Right now, Carol is in the midst of a physical therapy session which is going very well with the exception that she is slightly wobbly with her balance. Nevertheless, she went for a walk around the nurse station with her mask on and did some strength tests with the therapist. They are continuing to do exercises now.

Additionally, direct blood donor forms are pretty much filled out and ready to be sent to those of you who would like to donate. I will go through my e-mail soon to make a list of people to send it to and possibly contact you before I send a copy after I make some instructions

Thanks again for all your support and love. We hope you are all having a good week yourselves.

Daniel