Back with the vampires

Posted by April on January 12th, 2009 filed in Medical

Hi again,

Joel and I are sharing his hospital bed, watching the Pacer game right now.  Joel wants to emphasize we are sharing a twin size bed — do you think he wants me to move to my cot in the room!?!  Joel has been at the hospital all day, getting blood draws.  He will have his chemotherapy tomorrow and then he will be able to go home.  His schedule will be consistent — he will receive chemotherapy on Tuesdays, three weeks in a row, with the fourth week of no chemo.  We anticipate that he will only have to spend the night in the hospital one more time, next week, and then he will be done with the overnight stays.

As I stated last week, Joel tolerated the first week of chemo well.  His biggest challenge has been fighting fatigue.  Another inconvenience is the “chemo brain” that he gets — which causes him to be more forgetful and more or less foggy in his thought process.  The most frustrating part of chemo brain is that Joel realizes he is experiencing these symptoms while they are occuring, and yet has no control of them.  So, that is the one thing he is not looking forward to tomorrow.  Otherwise, Joel is ready for the chemo and then being able to go home.

Will keep you posted!

April


3 Responses to “Back with the vampires”

  1. Paula Cooprider Says:
    January 13th, 2009 at 9:12 am

    Thanks for the update, April and Joel. I had forgotten that the fatigue was immediate. How difficult it has to be to subject yourself to drugs that youknow will cause these side effects. I am glad you have the strength to do that. I’m trusting that Joel will tolerate this treatment well, also. It’s good to hear from you. Paula

  2. Mackenzie Says:
    January 13th, 2009 at 5:28 pm

    Dear Joel,
    how are you doing?I love you sooooooooo much you don’t know how much I do.

    Well thats all I’ve got for now.

    Love,Mackenzie Carr

  3. Connie Matalon Says:
    January 14th, 2009 at 10:50 am

    Hi April,

    It’s good to hear that you and Joel will have only one more week with the overnight stay at the hospital. The “vampire day” sounds worse than the “chemo day”. Thanks for the update and also for the TERRIFIC Upward Basketball photos of Rachel, Daphne, and Vincent !!!
    Cousin Connie

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