May 9

Well, Greg rang the bell on Tuesday! On Monday, Dr. C said he was immensely impressed with the shrinkage of the tumor and it will continue to skrink during the next 2 weeks! Yesterday, we both mostly slept all day. Today I'm packing & loading so we can head out in the morning for Ft. Worth and stay with Greg's mom. She is going on to Tuscola with us on Saturday. I'd like to be home by lunch on Saturday, but it just depends on how he feels on waking. They've warned us that these next 2-3 weeks aresomtimes the worst. I honestly wonder if part of it isn't depression. You've been in the cocoon of safety and then they send you home. AND I found out that we can't even get into Greg's doctor (because he's booked up and out of town for 2 weeks),so we are going home to no doctor! Oh well, the nurses and everyone here was so impressed with how well Greg did and that he only had 2 hydrations and NO hospitalizations, that I fell more confident about it than I did. Thank you so much for all the support! Greg probably won't go back to work this summer. We go back to the doctor on June 5, July 5, July 11, July 30. That's all we know so far.

May 4th

I forgot to mention that Monday when we went to the Doc he said "That's impressive!" So, I said "Well, last week was 'Wow' how does this relate?" He said that the tumor was markedly better than "Wow." I really like Dr. Chroknowski. He is a human first and a doctor second. It's really cute. He always knocks on the door before he enters and he always asks if Greg minds if he sticks his finger down Greg's throat. I laughed one day and said, "Like he has a choice." Dr. Chroknowski said, "Well, it's just polite." He's an Eagle Scout. I think that's just one more thing that proves God sent him to us. I'll really miss seeing him every week. JUST TWO MORE TREATMENTS!

May 2

Wow! time flies. Sorry I've been remise. Greg got dehydrated again. I think this time made a believer out of him. It sure made for a long day/night. On Monday, Dr. Chroknowski said he was having him put in for a hydration treatment. We had to wait around to find out when they could fit us in. 2 hours later, (about 1pm) we found out we'd have to come back @ 8PM. At 8PM we got there and had to wait 2 hours for a room because all three transfusion units (about 50 beds each ) were running full. we weren't the only ones. We thought the hydration would take about an hour - our mistake. it took 4 hours! we got home @ 3AM! Yes, they still have valets to go find your car @ 2Am! After we got home I got stuck on some show on Salvador Dali that was really good. but that meant it was after 4 am befor I went to sleep and @ 7am Greg wanted to have a feeding (the gall!) and @ 10 am we were back @ the radiation clinic! BUT he is doing so much better that tonight he went to Petsmart with Jennifer nad was even particular about what he watched on TV today (which means he messed up my HGTV schedule!) His neck is soooo sunburned looking. fair skinned people show it much faster than Greg did, but it finally got to him. I went out today and bought him some cheap t's and cut the binding off the neck because it hurts too much. But in one week he gets to RING THE BELL! When you finish your radiation treatments, they let you bring family or whoever back with you and the technicians all come out and you get to ring the bell to show that you've finished. It's right by the waiting room, so everyone can hear it and applaud. It sounds kinda hokey, but it really means a lot to the patients and maybe more for the caregivers who just sit and hope. Last week we found out that they do over 500 radiation treatments a DAY! and still they make you feel like you are the only one they have.

April 25th

Greg had a blast on the camp out, but boy has he been tired! This week has been hard on him. I'm not sure why, but thye told us that weeks 3-6 of radiation were the hardest and he is having a hard time. his weight started dropping again, and he has thrown up several times today. I think he may be somewhat disheartened also. We went to speech therapy yesterday, and had a really good therapist who spent a lot of time on him. She noticed right off that there was too much nasality to his voice and asked if he had a cold or anything. As the conversation went on, it came out that it was caused by the lack of a uvula (the hangy down thing @ the back of your throat). In September when Dr. Cotney removed his tonsils he also decided to "reshape" Gregs soft palate to help with his "snoring problem." The problem was that Greg didn't snore! Ever since then Greg has had trouble swallowing and now we find out that that uvula helps send foods the correct direction. Greg is very upset.

April 21

Yes, he convinced me to take him to the Scout campout! He was so cute - like a little boy. I suggested that since we got held up @ Radiation, and would be getting to the event LATE, I would sleep in the Expedition. My word! You'd have thought I suggested running naked through camp! He informed me that I couldn't because I wasn't Order of the Arrow! It wasn't allowed! He was so excited we we got there that he started getting out of the truck before it even stopped! I'm so glad my brother-in-law convinced me how important this trip was for Greg! I'm in a hotel nearby and will pick him up tomorrow @ 10 AM.

April 18th

Continued from the 16th! It turns out that they had someone in the area so it was convenient for TXU to shut off the power! TXU that’s right TXU turned off the power 3 days early because someone was already in the neighborhood and so it was convenient for them!!! What audacity! Fortunately. Jennifer and Kay are such angels that they also have fantastic friends that we have come to love and adore. Debbie Maurelli's parents were out of town for the weekend and she called them and they welcomed Kay, Greg, and I into their home for the weekend, without even knowing Greg & I! After much ranting about a cancer patient they did manage to get the power on by Saturday morn, so we got to move back!

On Saturday, April 14th, Greg got a wonderful surprise. Randy and Janna Best, along with their three kids (Lacey, Kayla [& her friend Jessica], & Manton) arrived for a surprise visit. I couldn’t believe I actually kept my mouth shut! Greg was blown away! Greg was so invigorated that he even went to the movies with Manton & Randy. They saw Pathfinder & Greg even stayed awake through most of it! Sunday he was till pretty alert considering all the activity the past 3 days had. Monday & Tuesday it seemed to catch up with him. He was exhausted. Today, even though he had chemo he had a lot more energy and better spirits. He only had to have 2 chemo treatments, so now he is done! His hair started falling out Monday. He is NOT happy about that.

He is now trying to convince me to drive him to an Order of the Arrow Boy Scout campout this weekend! We'll see!

April16, 2007

What a week! Ever since they put Greg on the feeding tube we've been telling nurses and the nutritionist that we needed to see an internal med doc for diabetes control. I had been letting Greg keep up with his blood sugars. Bad idea. He had not told me the actual #'s, just that it was high. After the doc's got the report of greg's blood tests for the week that had included glucose levels this time, I got an afternoon call to head to the hosp. because Greg's Sugar count was 499 and his Potassium was 6.1 - both BAD. Well, by 11PM we finally got the blood sugar down to 250 and the potassium under control, so they sent us home. Of course, Friday was an early morning for us. On Friday he has 2 radiation treatments, and this Friday, we also had a ER followup with internal medicine. When we got home @ 3:30, there was no electricity. The electric bill wasn't due until Monday, but the company had taken it upon themselves to turn it off 3 days early! I give up! I'm posting this and adding more about our exciting weekend tomorrow!