Swallowing = Freedom

If Richard is taking in solid foods regularly, they say he might get out next week! Exciting stuff.
Yesterday and today he had some jell-o. This morning he used it to take a pill which had the doctor and the nutritionist VERY excited.

His throat is starting to feel better. He's still using the suction at times, but he's swallowing more and more without it.




Yesterday, he tried some cup-a-noodle soup.
He's about to have some more right now. He just headed down the hall to get some hot water in his mug. It's good to see him walking around a bit more.


I headed to Starbucks this morning to get my coffee and this was Richard's request.
Yum. I figured the hospital cafeteria probably had some sub-par-no-where-near-as-good-as-I-can-make-them rice krispy squares. Sure enough, they did. I ignored the fact that the very small square was $2.49. I figured Richard would reason that his freedom was worth $2.49.

He tried it. He didn't like it. Stuff doesn't taste badly for him right now, so much as it tastes like nothing.


He tried a couple of my potato chips too. Same thing.
Nothing. How disappointing, especially since these are about the BEST potato chips ever invented. I haven't tried these in about a year or two and wowsers... awesome.




Mom offered to take the boys last night and Richard was sounding pretty darned lonely and wanted me to come out ASAP, so I took her up on her offer. Dad was on stand-by to take the boys Friday night to Saturday just in case mom wasn't available.

So, I left Abbotsford at 6:15pm and made it to Dad's by 7:25pm. Not bad. We were in a time-crunch, both wanting to be able to watch Big Bang Theory at 8pm. Dad had previously picked me up a turkey wrap and some veggies and dip at the grocery store, so dinner was taken care of.

He dropped me at the hospital close to 7:47pm. I think he must've missed the first few minutes of the show. Sorry Dad! Thanks for the drive!

Thanks Mom for taking the boys for the two nights!

I came up to see Richard and man... he was having troubles keeping it together. With feeling that bit better and being awake that much more, the days passes much more slowly for him giving him lots of time to think about how much he misses us and misses being home. He was all tears. However, he was feeling well enough to share his bed for some good cuddles and maybe a bit of friskiness (sorry.. TMI.. I know, but it's a part of the journey). He's on the mend.

His white cells are jumping up leaps and bounds and the oncologist is hoping to see them rise 'exponentially' this week.

The white cells went from 1.3 on Monday, to 2.0 on Tuesday, 2.3 on Wednesday, 2.6 on Thursday, and 3.0 today. His neutrophils are at 1.3!!!

He's still nauseated and has already thrown up today. BUT... he's already asking to try a burger and fries tonight (which is probably the real reason for the tears in his eyes when I arrived at the hospital........ "mmmmm... burger-getter").

He'll be trying out the 'regular hospital menu' tomorrow with some add ons like jell-o and broth.

So far, so good. He looks great, and still has eyebrows. I told him he smells good like french-fries (the IV nutrition smell) and a box of HB pencils. I know you're trying to imagine that right now.


Right?


I'm hoping to bring the boys out to visit him on Sunday after their Santa pictures at 9am. Let's see if those beauties turn out as great as last year's!!!