Update on Paul

Paul has officially finished with his Chemotherapy treatments.  I have mixed emotions over this since he was supposed to get 6 - 8 chemotherapy treatments and ended up only receiving 4 treatments. I am concerned and wonder did he get enough chemotherapy to kill of the necessary cancer cells? But I must trust in the doctors and continue to pray.    His white count was too low for them to continue with the treatments.  The Oncologist feels it is safer to let his body heal before having surgery than to take the chance of creating more problems.  He did receive four shots of Reupogen to help the body produce white blood cells.  The shots are working as his count was up yesterday.

We are keeping on schedule with his radiation treatments.  He will be finished with those on Wednesday.  Then on to tests,  rest and healing before surgery.  We do not have a surgery date yet, that will be discussed with the Surgeon on June 6th, after his Stress Echo-cardiogram,  PET scan, CT scan and the Ultrasound Endoscopy scheduled for the end of May.

Paul is not eating any foods but continues to get his nutrition via the J Tube.  He can not take any medications by mouth so those are all crushed and dissolved into a liquid state to be given via the tube.  So far this is working well. With all the medications going into the J Tube, they have to be spaced apart at intervals where they will not interact with each other.  It has been a challenge to create a schedule that works, but I think we did it!

Paul sleeps a lot during the day.  I believe this is good as it sleep allows the body time to regenerate and heal.
The last week he has been under "House Arrest" to keep him from being exposed to anything out there.  I know he wants to get out.  He is tired of being cooped up.  You can only watch so much T.V.!  He has been having waves of nausea and vomiting.  According to the doctors, this is a normal reaction.  I always thought it would have happened right away, but in Paul's case, his body held on and is now suffering the effects of the Chemo and Radiation treatments.  I guess we were lucky in that aspect, it could have started at the beginning and carried through to now.  Paul's comment from this past week.... "I would like to feel normal, just for one day"  I keep telling him that it will happen, maybe not right away, but it will happen.

On a good note to all this. Paul should be able to get out of the house next week and enjoy some sunshine and fresh air.  He always seems to do so much better on days when he is able to interact with people, whether it be sitting at the pool, a visitor to the house or even a walk to pick up the mail.

Thank you Deb for the Lavender Girl, it brought back wonderful memories of Paul's grandmother.
Thanks to everyone for your prayers, cards and well wishes.

Jo and Paul

A man walks into a bar and orders three beers.

The bartender brings him the three beers, and the man proceeds to alternately sip one, then the other, then the third, until they're gone.

He then orders three more and the bartender says, "Sir, I know you like them cold, so you can start with one, and I'll bring you a fresh one as soon as you're low."

The man says, "You don't understand. I have two brothers, one in Australia and one in the Ireland. We made a vow to each other that every Saturday night, we'd still drink together. So right now, my brothers have three beers, too, and we're drinking together."

The bartender thinks it's a wonderful tradition, and every week he sets up the guy's three beers. Then one week, the man comes in and orders only two. He drinks them and then orders two more. The bartender says sadly, "Knowing your tradition, I'd just like to just say that I'm sorry you've lost a brother."

The man replies, "Oh, my brothers are fine -- I just quit drinking."



Research has shown that the mere physical act of smiling, without actually feeling like it, triggers internal biological reactions that stimulate emotions and contribute to a better mood - in you and others.  In other words, when you feel down fake a big fat smile and you will lighten up automatically.  So keep smiling and while you are at it, why not share a joke or two!