Good News!

On Tuesday this week, Chris had his third chemo session.  He watched some TV shows on his iPad while I was working in a chair close by.  We were both surprised that the whole process went a lot faster - they must be letting it drip a little faster and they overlapped some of the saline with the chemo.  We were done in 4 hours instead of 5!  He is doing great, though a bit tired tonight as is normal about this amount of time after the chemo.  He is hoping to go to work tomorrow, which is normally his achy day but if he doesn't feel any worse than tonight when he wakes up tomorrow, he feels he can get through.  Maybe better to be at school with his wonderful colleagues and kids instead of home alone for too long.  TGIF tomorrow!

The best news was in talking to our oncologist before the chemo session.  He asked if Chris had any change in his pain level since beginning chemo.  Other than some lingering soreness from the surgery last Wednesday, Chris has no longer been experiencing much of the stomach and back pain that he was prior to his diagnosis.  In fact, he had been told by the surgeon last week that he couldn't take any pain medication during the holiday weekend as they wanted to make sure if he had any side effects from the surgery that he would notice the change in pain levels, etc.  He was nervous about going without his nightly Aleve, which he had been taking since the pain first presented in his back in Sept so he could sleep through the night.  He was able to go without it all weekend and slept pretty well, especially considering he had just had the surgery and could only sleep on his back the first night or two.  The oncologist asked why Chris thought he was experiencing a decrease in pain and when Chris said because 'the chemo is working' the doctor said the teacher got it right!  :)

Thanks again to everyone for the prayers, thoughts, delicious meals and Christmas lights hung on our house while we were gone last weekend! 

Love,
Wendy