January 14, 2011

Dad slept pretty well last night and said he felt pretty good when he woke up.  Mom and Dad leisurely had breakfast and did a lot of talking.  I came by at 1:10 to pick him up to take him to get his shot.  This is a shot to help keep his white blood cells up.  The downside to the shot is it makes his bones hurt.  We had a very nice visit and I was surprised when the nurse asked him what his pain level was and he said "4."  He has been between 7 and 8 for a long time (which is probably a 10 for anyone else).  I looked at him and said, "that is great Dad, a 4" and he said, "yeah, but I am on a lot of pain medication."  I reminded him that is what the medicine is for and I was glad it was working.

It was very sad for me to walk into the room where they administer the chemo to people.  There were a lot of beds placed in two rows which were lined up a few feet from each other.  Many of the beds were filled with people receiving their treatment. I felt so sad for these people and yet most of them had a cheerful countenance.  There was the businessman in his shirt and tie typing away on his Blackberry, the older woman who looked tired and had lost her hair, they middle-aged woman holding her husband’s hand, and many more people.  The only thing in common was this horrible disease.

I then took him home.  He looked great and said he was feeling pretty good.  I left about 3:15 and Mom said he had a good afternoon.  About 7:30 he started to get really bad with his whole body aching.  Mom is expecting a rough night for him.  Mom said that when she was doing chemo, her second and third day were the worst.  Dad seems to be following that pattern.

Kirk, Alicia, Cory, Chris, and I want to thank all the neighbors who have brought dinners to Mom and Dad.  It has been so great to not have to worry about that!  We also want to thank the Lunds for taking care of the snow for them. We are so grateful for all of the people who are commenting on this blog.  While I was with Dad today he would occasionally say to me, did you see that so and so posted this or so and so said that.  We believe it will be almost impossible for Dad to get too discouraged when every 10 or 15 minutes he has someone posting how much they love him and are praying for him.  We hope you will comment over and over!

I will close tonight by sending our love to all our relatives outside Utah.  We think of you often and feel of your strength and prayers.  I know this is especially difficult for Grandma Betty, Tim, and Barbara.  We want all of you from California to Arizona to Kentucky and elsewhere to know that we love you and miss you!