Day 12

Thanks to all for their posts today -- everyone knows how hard yesterday was for Debbie and today was a better day.

Joey and I arrived at about 3:45 today and Deb was resting in her bed. She was in good spirits and ready to laugh. She was eating well today and the lower regions were cooperating for a change. She was doing her laps and Joey took her out for two workouts today. I counted at least 5 laps, which means we did 8-9 Debbie laps.

Deb's counts are way down, which is to be expected. .8 WBC, <8 HMG, <10 platlates. She is still very susceptible to any type of virus or infection, but within her very controlled environment she seems to be doing fine. Obviously, the comment "doing fine" must be put into context. In normal times, this woman would have been in hyper drive at this time of year, wondering if we should have a Christmas party, how many parties were we going to, how many trees we should have, what about the 85 Santas perched on all of their places, etc. She has not once complained about missing any of this (and could you blame her!!) and is determined to see this thing through. She is a real Trooper.

Speaking of Troopers, what we were calling a "rash" is a cross between third degree burns and leprosy! It is absolutely terrible ( so now we know that Deb really is allergic to penicillin!). She is accumulating a lot of fluid in the area of the "rash" and they will likely start some type of treatment for this bad development. This condition extends from her armpits to her hips and is fluid filled, raised purple blotches. I put some steroidal potion on these areas tonight and I could feel the heat from her skin even through the gloves. The boys and I will probably need to fashion a fine Missouri mustard root poltus to draw all of this fluid off in the next day or two.

Deb had an appetite for dinner and dug into a bowl of Mary's meat balls, of course while looking at her hospital tray. The state of the hospital food is simply incredulous to me. It is so bad that we are encouraged to bring our own food in from home. We even have refrigerators and microwaves to accommodate this shortcoming. It is as if HUP have resigned themselves to their inability to prepare food and they encourage a "work around" with home food to get by. While looking at their TV today, I noticed that they did not have the Food Channel -- perhaps a suggestion in the right direction?? They could do with a little "BAM!" Nevertheless, we have a nice supply of beef stew in the fridge in case Deb gets hungry tonight, and we are making pulled pork sandwiches for tomorrow.

Mike will be coming home tonight and he will visit Deb for the first time tomorrow. This will be difficult for him. Joey will speak to him tonight to help him along.

Deb has 20 pages of blogs to read her way through and she keeps all of the cards and emails handy to read over and over when she can't sleep at night. She feels you around her and we are all thankful for the support you have given us. The boys are particulary thankful for the food packages that have been arriving and are being devoured just as quickly. The chicken parm is gone already!

Deb sends her love to all and we hope for better days.