New poem written over a rough couple days

This Trail is Too Tough

We climbed up Roan Mountain, trees bent and all froze
Till forced to retreat and thaw out our numb toes
Howling north winds uprooted pines from the duff
But the trail we now take is proving too tough

We paddled kayaks in rain through the Misty Fjords
Among Orca with dorsals the size of surfboards
At night bears in our camp tried to raid the foodstuff
But the trail we now take is proving too tough

We hiked in the night over Baked Oven Knob
On wracked knees and sore feet, coarse as corn cobs
Up that Appalachian Trail you might have heard of
But this trail we now take is proving too tough

We camped with the alligators in the vast Everglades
With panthers and snakes and mosquitoes in spades
We froze in chickees till we had quite enough
But this trail we now take is proving too tough

We trekked in the desert, up  mountains, through trees
Baked in the sun then froze by the breeze
Sunburned and bug bit we laughed, “that’s not so rough!”
But this trail we now take is proving too tough

Twenty miles each day, with just bread left to sup
We’re long distance hikers, and we'll never give up
This trail we will beat in the end you will see
It is tough but we’re tougher; Toesox and me!

-yfp-

Blood counts up, all cultures negative, fever gone, appetitte restored!!

Today Sheila is feeling much better and has gone without a fever for 24 hours. Her white count is rising and is now 400 or .04 depending on how they phrase it.  I know Dr. DiStephano told me it was 600 yesterday but when the nurse told me that today it is 400, I had her pull up the last few days and it has gone from 0 to 100 to 300 and then today its 400. So it is still slowly going steadily up. Once it gets going it will start doubling each day until it reaches a "normal" range of 5000 to 10,000. All the bacterial cultures came back negative including the cut off tip of the old PICC LINE. Then we have to look forward to another round of chemo. So just what kind of infection she has/had is still up in the air. The bottom line is it looked liked Sheila has kicked this thing and is on the mend. Hopefully we will get out of here in a few days ( I know they need the rooms) and join me at our new We Care House. Hopefully Mr. Scabby Head will not stop by with a midnight casserole though!!

A new house, a bum, a gun and a neutropenic room for Sheila

Late yesterday Sheila was moved to a neutropenic room. This is a private room with double doors and it's own air filtration system to emliminate any chance of Sheila getting exposed to any nasty hospital infection. Everyone entering the room is required to santitize their hands before and after leaving. I am glad we are in this room for another reason. Theroo......a fantastic nurse we met last year when we where in here for a month. She is from Shri Lanka and is just an unbelievably great nurse and really nice to Sheila. Sheila ran another fever last night but it came right back down and today she is feeling pretty good considering what she has been through. This morning she had her usual Cheerios, Ensure and orange juice and finished all of it. A little improvement each day I can live with!
 Last night I left the hospital to get  things settled into our new We Care House. It is only one block from the hospital. When I was getting ready to go to sleep I heard a knock at the door. I thought it might be Carol, the owner, but it was late and I decided to look through the peephole to see. There on the doorstep was a very scroungy looking guy with a skinhead haircut, homemade tattoos and scabs and/or scars all over the back of his noggin. He would not face the door but kept his back turned away and was looking up and down the street. He knocked again then got on his cell phone.  I knew Mr. Scabby Head was not likely the neighborhood Welcome Wagon, here to bring me a late night casserole! I watched him through the peephole. He hung up his cell phone. He stared back at me this time through the peephole. Using the remote I turned on the living room TV and turned the sound up a notch. He knocked again as I looked through the peephole. I didn't know if he could see or hear the TV so I turned on a light that I knew he could see from the front door. Now he knew someone was home.  I could see the street but only my car was out there, he had not driven here as far as I could tell. He did not leave. Was he talking to his buddies around the corner waiting on him? This started to feel like a home invasion robbery in the making, at least that was my thought. If he was just looking for an unoccupied house to burgle why was he still standing there watching the street. He knew someone was home. Maybe he thought just an old lady and her sick husband, that was here the previous night and all last week. Maybe he had been watching them come and go. Scabby Head was in for the surprise of his, so far short life , if he took this to the next level. He seemed to be thinking it over, at least this is what was going through my head just two feet from his on the other side of the door. I tried to think of a legitimate reason he would be knocking on the door so late. I thought...ok, a census taker and had to stiffle a laugh. I was not overly concerned about all this, he was still at least on the outside......and...... I had a good handgun......and.......it was right where it belonged....in my hand. I had made sure I had taken it out of storage after the last We Care House was broken into while we were at the cancer center. That was not going to happen again at least not while I was home! Good....Tony Tattoo was leaving now, headed down the walk to the street. But wait....he hangs a quick right and walks right along the front of the house staying in the shadows of the trees and bushes overgrown against the house. I watch his crater filled full moon of a head slowly go by the three living room windows. Does he not think he is being watched? Maybe he doesn't care. Maybe he has help. Does he not think someone may be calling 911? I briefly think of doing so then reason takes hold. Better to keep a close eye on Pus Pate here to see what he is up to. I go into the bedroom and watch him go by those two windows. He does not test any windows. Maybe he already knows they are locked? Has this dirtbag been here before? He turns the corner of the house and I watch Bandaid Brain disappear into the darkness. I cannot see him anymore. Our rooms are just on the front side of this 3 unit remodeled old house. The unit behind us is still unfinished and unoccupied. I know better than to go outside in the dark with a gun and try to find him. I wait a while, nothing happens, I assume he has moved on to other misadventures. Then I go to turn in, the shower can wait till morning. But wait....no sheets for the bed, Carol has taken them to launder because the last guests didn't bother. I dig out my sleeping bag, throw it on the bed and sleep like the dead..........with my brother's Smith and Wesson Airlight and his Wilson Combat D2 knife taking the first watch.

Dr DiStephano just came in for a visit....

and he said that they will get the infection under control and that some of the symptoms Shelia is having are directly related to the powerful chemo and are to be expected. Right now she has four bags of fluids/antifungal/antibiotics flowing into her and they aare completely new and much more powerful than the previous days. Alot of the misery, besides having this infection are directly related to her blood counts bottoming out because of the chemo. The process now is to let her body, with help from these powerful new antibiotics, bebound and build back new white and red cells and platelets. Later today if a nutrapenic room becomes available we will move into it. This kind of rooms have a double door to enter and an independant air filter system to keep and germs away from her as she builds up an immune system. I should be moving all our stuff into the new house later today and will be able to walk back and forth from the hospital as it is just a block away. There is also a full living and kitchen area that will be nice after living in Carol's remodeling project, confined to our one rooma and hot plate. I like camping but not like that!!

All nighter at the hospital and moving today

Was a rough night ....with Sheila running temps up and down, many blood samples to the lab, all her meds changed, put her on oxygen and looking at a possible fungus infection in her lungs. Between fevers she was actually feeling pretty good though and they still dont know what excactly is causing the infection. It is now 4:55AM and sometime today they will transfer her to a nutrapenic room with less chance of anything getting in to infect her. I am sure Dr. DiStephano will be in sometime today and hopefully with his help and maybe the lab results coming in they can sort all this out. Also sometime today I will be moving all our stuff into a different We Care House that Carol has and it is very close to the hospital. Sheila got very little, and I did not get any sleep last night and it's going to be a long day. Between the fevers all night, the nurses coming in every half hour for something and the delirious old man across the hall yelling out over and over and over, "IS ANYOOOOONNNNNEEEEE THEEEERRRREEEEEEE!!!!???" and " I DON"T KNOW WHERE TO PUT THE FIRECRACKERS!!!!" I feel like a hungover drunk who spent the night in the tank.

Doctor stopped in, temp spiking again to 102.1

The weekend duty doctor just came by to check on Sheila and the nurse was also in taking vitals. Sheila's temp is back up to 102.1 and they are giving her Tylenol. They are also giving her more platelets. The doctor said that the results of the catscan came back and they show two spots on her lungs but they cannot compare those results with her ones from Dr. DiStephano until tomorrow to see if  those spots were there before. They are also going to have a gastronologist and a lung specialist check her out. They are both on the floor working the weekend but they do not know if they will get to Sheila before tomorrow. The hospital is full,  with people waiting on rooms having to be kept in ER until a room is avaiable. The doctor said that even with all the chemo and other drugs and changing out the Picc tht she should not be running fevers. She said they have to make sure it is not a fungus type infection as that would require differnet meds, so they are looking at that. Sheila will not be getting out of here today, thats for sure. Hopefully tomorrow being Monday her doctor will be in to see these doctors and maybe give us better info on whats going on. She never felt sick until all this "treatment" started again.

More blood,platelets,potasium,antibiotics

Today we have not seen the doctor as of yet. They are still running all the above untis into her to try and get things "topped off". I think the fever has subsided but they have not taken her temp in a while. Her stomach is what is bothering her the most and I am guessing/hopeing that it is only due to al the powerful chemo she has gotten. Last night they ran three sets of blood samples for testing and took a catscan of her chest. They did a chest xray just the day before so I don't know what they are looking for now. Hoping to hear some good news later today when the doctor checks in on her.

The doctor says.......another night in the hospital

The doctor came in the room awhile ago and said Sheila's chest x-ray looked OK but there was a little spot of fluid on her lung. She is also still running a temp of 101.2 so she will stay in the hospital one more night and see if things improve. They are keeping her IV full of fuids and antibiotics.

A different day, same hospital

We are still at the hospital, last night after all her treatments they recommended that Sheila spend the night because she was spiking another fever. They also said her blood oxygen levels were still low. The nurse said that she thought maybe Sheila needed more whole blood but she had just received two units of whole blood and another one of platelets. The doctor on call at the hospital put her on oxygen overnight and gave her more fuilds to help flush out her system. They also took another chest x-ray and we have not heard back about that yet. So now we just sit here and wait to see what they will do next. Sheila feels pretty good and had a breakfast of Cheerios again. She ate some fish at dinner last night but still does not feel much like eating. We are hoping they will let us out of here, but she will still have to get her fluids and nupergen injection for the day, eitther here or at the ancer Center. Justing waiting to see whats next.

Temp just hits 103 but.......

the nurses here said that is not unusual after replacing the Picc line. They took it again a few minutes ago and it was 102.7 so at least it stopped increasing. They also had the x-ray results and the new Picc is good. They already have antibiotics going into her and fluids will be next and whole blood is on the way. I just gave her a couple Tylenol and that should help lower her fever.  I am glad we are doing this at the hospital and not the ACC. I am also glad Sheila ate some soup and oranges...at least it makes ME feel better!

PICC line in, X-ray done...wating on results.

About an hour ago they put the new Picc Line in Sheila's arm and took out the old one, cutting off the end of the old to send it to the lab for a culture to see if, and/or what kind of bacteria may have infected it. They think this is what had been causing her fevers every night. They also took an x-ray of her chest to make sure the new line is installed properly and can be used to transfuse the blood, platelets and antibiotics that she needs. We are now waiting on the results of that x-ray so they can start the blood transfusion. A few of the nurses here remember Sheila from last time she was in the hospital and came in for a short visit. The nurses on this cancer ward are just fantastic and though the nurses at the Arlington Cancer Center are good they cannot compare with the professionals here at the hospital. It is now 2:45PM and hopefully we will not be here too much longer. I am hoping that in a couple of hours we will be on our way back to the house. The lunch that came for Sheila was hospital spaghetti and she wanted no part of it so I ate it! They did bring her some manderin orange slices and hot chicken noodle soup and she ate that very well. I think she will feel much better once they get some whole red blood back into her!

There's a man out on the roof wearing a surgical mask.......

and he's working on the air condensers.  If you have not guessed yet we are finally at the hospital. We were told yesterday at the ACC that the hospital would call us last night and tell us what time to be there. Big surprise.....no one called! This morning we got up early and headed back to the Cancer Center (the ACC). When we got there they had us wait a short time until they located our "orders", the magic envelope of papers that would let us be admitted into the hospital. We drove the short distance to the hospital, about one block and I dropped Sheila at the front entrance as I went to look for a parking space in the high rise parking lot. When I got the car parked I found Sheila in Admitting and a nice young lady offered to wheel Sheila up to the third floor to her room. We had only gone about ten steps when this "nice young lady" handed Sheila off to a hospital volunteer at the front desk and told him to take her up to room 3216. After repeating to him at least a half dozen times......"NO.... ROOM 3216!" I think he understood where to take us. The volunteer was about 85 years old and for his age was probably in very good shape, but, I didn't see how he was going to push her  wheelchair down the length of the hall never mind up to the third floor. He still seemed  confused as he led the way leaning on the chair as much as pushing it down the hallway! He managed to get her onto the elevator and up to the third floor and made it to the nurse's station. After turning in her papers at the desk he pushed her down the last hall toward her room. When he got closer to her room he kept repeating her room number over and over as her rolled right on past it. We both had to tell him, "RIGHT HERE!" After hesitating and doulble checking himself he did get us to the room OK. I am glad people like him still volunteer at the hospital but I don't think pushing people in wheelchairs was the smartest thing to let this guy do. I hope he found his way back down to his desk at the front entrance!
  Right now we are settled into room 3216 and Sheila had a bowl of Cheerios which she said was fantastic! She still has not been able to eat. Last night we went to Shlotzkies because she wanted soup but only managed to have about a third of a cup. Now we are waiting for all the work to begin.......two units of whole blood, one unit of platelets, take out her Pic-Line and hopefully install a new one (this is still up in the air), give her antibiotics and fluids in an IV and her nupergen shot in her stomach. Looks like a long day here!

Hospital today maybe,, if not definately tomorrow.

Back at infusion today after lab and doctor. They are giving Sheila fluids and antibiotics. The doctor was going to do a bone marrow today but decided that her counts still have not "bottomed out" and will do it tomorrow. The hospital today has no outpatient room left so they will most likely send us to the hospital in the morning. The doctor seems to think that her daily bouts of fever are due to her Pic-line and he wants it changed also. This has to be done at the hospital. So now it looks like the trip to the hospital will include changing the Pic-line, gettiing platelets, getting whole blood, bone marrow biopsy, antibiotics and fluids. It will be a long day and may include and overnight stay depending if we have to go later today or in the morning. Sheila is feeling the best she has felt in several days and today we even split a breakfast of Chiliquelles and Fuzzy's Tacos before driving to the ACC. At the house last night Carol and her handyman came and tore out the closet in our bathroom in preperation for a new door into the laundry room. We have been without laundry access since she moved her grand-daughter into the main part of the We Care House. We were supposed to move to another house on the 20th but the people staying there are nott leaving now until this weekend. I guess we will move over there this weekend. Then at least we will have a full kitchen,living and laundry room for ourselves! Also it is just .03 miles to the ACC and hospital. Maybe we can even walk to it when Sheila feels better!?

Time to get out the hair clippers

We are at the ACC right now, Sheila is in getting her infusion of antibiotics and fluids and I am back in the waiting area. Since they remodeled the cancer center there are hardly any seats in the infusion area for family. So sometimes I can sit in a patients chair if it is unoccupied but I dont like doing that. Patients should not have to worry about some healthy person taking their seat or asking them to move.  She still cannot eat anything. I am hoping today we can get over this hump and she will start feeling better. I will have to cut her hair off tonight as it started to come out yesterday while she was in the shower. I was starting to think she would not lose her hair but being that the last round of chemo was twice as strong as anything she has had, I should have known better. Today we stopped for our usual McD's before the ACC and we got her a smottie to try but she could not even get that down. She said everything tastes like an old cotton Tshirt and also she has no saliva to help her eat. She is trying to drink alot of water but constantly sipping at a water bottle I am not sure she gets enough fluids that way. We wer also supposed to move to a new We Care House close to the ACC and hospital because Carol is remodeling the house we are in. I think there are still people in the new place so I don't know when we will move. I am not moving Sheila if she still feels bad though, carol can just wwait on the remodel. We are supposed to see the doctor after her infusion so I hope he has some encouraging word about her labs that were also done today. He said last week that he wanted to do a bone marrow but I don't think that will happen today.

Chills-Fever-Sweats-Tylenol-Better

   A few hours after leaving the ACC Sheila started shivering under the covers of the bed. Added two more blankets. Still shivering. Add a down sleeping bag on top of all the blankets. A little less shivering. Temp 101.7. Give her two Advill (dont have Tylenol) More time under blankets and she is sweating now. Temp 102.8. Shit! Strip off all the covers. Apply cold wet face cloths to her legs and head. Turn all fans on her. Temp 102.1. Time to go get some Tylenol. Run off to CVS. Return, she takes a couple Tylenol. Apply fresh cold wet face clothes to head, stomach and thighs. Temp now 100.1. Good! Fever is breaking! Another half an hour and she is feeling better and temps come down to 99.5. Now to find something good for her to eat. Boston Market chicken soup and cornbread and chocolate cake. Go to pick that up and also a turkey/green bean/new potoato dinner for me.  Return back to house and she is feeling much better and eats some of her soup and cornbread. She does not want the chocolate cake but I volunteer to force it down myself! Nothing like a nice relaxing evening around the We Care House. Just took her temp again and it's 97.8 .Hoping tomorrow is a much easier day for us both!

A Long Scary Day at the ACC

Well today we went to the Cancer Center to have lab work, get Sheila's nupergen shot and see the doctor. Sheila has not been eating at all and started vomiting last night. She has had no appetite and can''t keep anything down. When she went in to the lab area to have her blood drawn they could not get enough blood due to her shaking and weakness. They brought her upstairs to the infusion center to see if they could draw more blood through her Pic-line. When they got that done and I  got her a warmed blanket out of the warmer her shaking finaly stopped. I was sure they would end up sending her over to the hospital for red blood because she was so weak and pale. This is the worse I have seen her while not in the hospital. It turned out after seeing the doctor and getting her labs back that her blood counts were still down but not enough to cause these symptoms. She is just dehydrated and weak form lack of food. They gave her some fluids through an IV along with something for her stomach and more antibiotics (she also had a slight fever) and she is feeling a little better now. When she was in infusion I went over to Dairy Queen and got her a cheeseburger and smoothie-like drink and she managed to eat some of it. Right now we are back at the house and she is resting. She did have half a cup of chocolate pudding and some more of her smoootie drink. Tomorrow we only have her nupergen shot on the schedule. I hope she is feeling better tommrrow. I plan to get her a good dinnner somewhere later if she thinks she can handle it.

Sunday at the ACC

We just got back from going to the ACC for Sheila's daily nupergen injection. Even on Sunday there are lots of people there for infusions and other treatments. We quickly got in and out because all she needed was a shot. Sheila has been feeling very run down and has not been eating much at all the last few days. Yesterday she said she wanted a "real" meal so we went to Cheddars but when the food came she could not eat it. Last night about  10:30 I went out to Arby's and she managed to eat about half of a  roast beef sandwich. Today she has not had anything. I went to Walmart to fill anothe prescription for her and picke dup two six packs of Ensure nutrion drinks. I hope whe will be able to get them down. She had not vomitrf once since this round of chemo started and though the pack was taken off on Thursday she still had upset stomach but has not vomited at all, so I guess that is good. That last prescription is for her upset stomach and I hope it works. Tomorrow we have lab and the doctor and I am hoping that her lack of energy is just from low red cells and maybe she just needs a transfusion on whole blood. We will know more tomorrow when the doctor sees her. I do know that she will have a bone marrow biopsy done on Wednesday.

Easy Dat at the ACC

Today all we had to go into the Cancer Center for was Sheila's daily nepurgen injection and to draw blood for the lab. Tomorrow we go in for the shot only, then Monday back to see the doctor. He has said that on Wednesday she will have a bone marrow biopsy done.

Platelets at the Hospital Today

We kind of knew we would be making a trip to the hospital for a transfusion of platelets today. After getting her nupergen shot and blood work done at the Cancer Canter this morning we saw the doctor and sure enough he sent us to the hospital for platelets.  The doctor also gave her a prescription for the upset stomach she has been having. The plan now is to let her recop her blood counts after this round of chemo and then hit her with another round to get this into remission. The round Sheila just finished was twice as potent as the last time they put it in remission so I hope this does the trick!

Chemo Backpack GONE!!

We just got back from the ACC with NO chemo pack! Shiela's counts are all bottoming out, meaning no platelets, white cells (immune system) and red cells declining also. Now she has to go into the clinic everday at least until the 29th for a nupergen shot, this is supposed to boost her white cell recovery. We have to see the doctor also tomorrow and I am  guessing we will be visiting the hospital for a transfusion of platelets.

Day 8.0 Chemo Pack to Come Off at 3PM Today

Well this morning we went to the ACC to have more blood work done and get Sheila's nupergen shot to help her white count climb back up. We have to go back at 3PM to have her chemo pack taken off after running for 7 full days now. Then tomorrow we have to go see her doctor and find out the blood work results and what treatments come next.

Day 7.5 Chemo Pack to Come off Tomorrow

Today we had to go to the ACC just for Sheila's blood work. They  took six vials of blood and sent us home. I don't know why they took that many, but when we got home they called and want her to come in tomorrow for more blood to be drawn. They are going to add yet another antibiotic also. Tomorrow afternoon the chemo pack is supposed to come off. I think they are going to check her blood again tomorrow to see if she need platelets. So the plan is now to go into the ACC early tomorrow and wait for the chemo pack to run out later in the day. That way if she need platelets we will not be looking at going over to the hospital lare in the day trying to get a tranfusion of platelets. We have been through that before and sat at the hospital until midnight!

Day 6.5 IHOP, Chips and TV

Today we had no appointments or treatments at the ACC so we slept late. 1030AM late! Too late for the McDonald's Value Menu breakfast. We went to IHOP  instead and split a pancakes, eggs and  sauasge meal and then got strawberry stuffed french toast for dessert! Then it was back to the house to do nothing at all. Yeah I  know...whats new! We had checked the movie listings thinking we might go see a matinee but nothing even anything half way decent was showing. So we now sit at the house watching TV movies, Sheila eating chips and me making tea. She still has her backpack and that will run until Thursday when they should take it off. After that I think what the doctor will do is let her counts bottom out then give her blood time to rebound and hit her with another round of chemo. Friday we go back to see the doctor and have lab work.

Day 5.5 Add Anti-Virals/Biotics

Today we saw the doctor after having lab work done. Everything still going to plan. No more blood thinning injections, just keep taking blood thinning pills and add  a prescription for antibiotics and antivirals. The backpack chemo should run until Thurday or Friday and we have more lab on Wednesday and another doctor visit on Friday. Sheila's white cell count is now about 60% and will drop to zero in the next week or so, hence all the antibiotics. Thats about it for now, just a daily routine of going to the Cancar Center and handing around the WE CARE HOUSE. Speaking of the WE CARE HOUSE, we will be moving to another house on the 20th or there abouts. Carol remodeled another home she bought and this one is only 3/10ths of a mile  from the Cancer Center and hospital and has more room for us, so that will be nice I guess.

Day 2.5 - Another trip to the Hospital

Another long day at the Arlington Cancer Center and the hospital, but at least now we are back on schedule with Sheila's chemo. Today after waiting to see the doctor he sent us over to the hospital so that they could put some dye in her Pic-Line and X-ray it to see if it was blocked or if the blockage was just in the vein. It turned out that the vein itself is blocked  but the line it still OK. Knowing that, they reconnected the chemo backpack, did the infusion for the other kind of chemo (red colored), gave her a blood thinning injection and sent us home. Today was the last day for the infusion of red chemo and her backpack will run until next Friday. We have to go back to the ACC Saturday and Sunday for blood thinning injections and then see the doctor on Monday. Its been a trying couple of days of treatments.

Day 1.5 Chemo Halted Due to Blood Clot

It is 8:30 PM and we just got back from the ACC and the WalMart Pharmacy. Today all we had scheduled was infusion (chemo through her Pic-Line) and a check of the 168 hour Backpack chemo that was scheduled to run continuously until next Thurday. Sheila noticed her right arm was swollen and hurting this morning and when they saw it at the ACC they said she needed to go to Radiology and have a sonogram done to make sure the vein was still clear before they could do the infusion. Well it turned out after being sent back and forth between departments and having the sonagram done, that her right arm where the Pic-Line is installed was blocked by a clot. So after a conference with her nurse and doctor it was decided to take the backpack chemo out oof her port and stop chemo for tonight. She was given her infusion chemo as usual because that is given through an IV stuck in her other arm each day. She was also given a blood thining injection and a prescription for an oral blood thinner. Tomorrow morning at 11AM we have to see Dr. DiStephano and find out what is going to happen from here.

Day 1 with Toesocks Chemo Pack

Today we went to the ACC for Sheila's new round of chemo to start. They first had to flush her Pic-Line that has been in for a week and of course it was clogged and a couple of shots of Heprin would not even fix the blockage. They had to call for another chemical, I think was called Activase and that did the trick after about a hour's time. Then she had to have an infusion of chemo at the ACC and also a backpack of another chemo to run for seven days. We now have to go back for two more days of infusion at the ACC and then we are off with only her backpack running until it runs out next Thursday. We also have an apppointment with Dr. DiStephano next Wednesday. So we are officially off backpacking until next Thursday! Happy Trails!

Chemo to start in the morning from square one!

This morning we went to have Sheila's lab work and to see Dr. DiStephano. Her blood work is now starting to show the luekemia is back and so chemo is to start in the morning. Her MUGA scan showed her heart was ok to start this aggressive chemo and so tomorrow she will start two kinds of treatment at the same time. One type of chemo will be infused daily through the port in her arm and given at the ACC (Arlington Cancer Center) and another will also start tomorrow attached to her through a backpack setup and run for five days. The idea is to kick this thing right back into remission. When that round is complete we go back next Wednesday to see the doctor and do more blood work then more chemo. We know this routine well and it looks like our days will now be spent going back to the ACC everyday. Just hoping this next remission will be longer than the last!