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.