Day Six

Left the house about 815 to head up to Portland. Talked with my friend Tania on the way there(don't worry I used my hands free device) who was making ham & beans for dinner tonight and wondered if Dad would want any...only one of his favorite dinners - OF COURSE he would want some, when we talked to him this afternoon he was looking forward to dinner time. :-)

Got up there about 10 after a couple stops in town. After weaving my way through the halls at OHSU and up to the top floor, I called for permission to enter the unit and then washed my hands for a minute at the sinks just inside the doors. Stopped at the nurses desk to sign that I am not sick, haven't been sick and show no signs of becoming sick. Then I walked down the hall to her room where I stopped and put on a gown, mask and gloves(after I used some waterless antiseptic) and entered her room. She was sitting in the chair looking at the beautiful sunny morning. She smiled and said she was glad I was there.

They got the chemo drip started about 930 last night and she hasn't seen any side effects yet.(they told us later in the day that it's usually not until after the drip stops that the side effects start) She is on 2 types of chemo right now, one for just 3 days and one for 7. She's still having trouble taking big breaths and they haven't been able to pinpoint why, so she's got this little device that helps her practice...

She has now had 7 units of blood and one unit of platelets. She has A- blood which is one of the more rare types (7% of caucasians).
We would love to ask you to take a minute and go to: http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.d8aaecf214c576bf971e4cfe43181aa0/?vgnextoid=d0061a53f1c37110VgnVCM1000003481a10aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default
to see where you could donate blood. (You can even call and ask about a directed donation in Mom's name if you are also A-)

The doctors and nurses that she has had taking care of her so far have been wonderful. She is well cared for there, which is a big load off our minds since we can't be with her 24/7. Dad is headed up in the morning to stay with her tomorrow and Thursday. So far work has been very understanding and allowing him to work only part time.

I took the laptop up today and hooked up the webcam, when the kids got home from school we did a video conference and they seemed to really enjoy that. So did Mom! Got her all set up so hopefully she can check her emails and facebook page on her own.

So far, so good...the doctors say she is responding perfectly, everything is going as planned.