Day 53: July 29, 2019

Day #8, round 3. Technically the second to last day of chemo. So only ONE MORE after this one. I think we are all getting towards the end of our ropes. The first round was mostly nerves and not really sure what was going to happen. The second round we had figured out a plan and were ready to fight! The third round, especially as we are nearing the end, I think we are all tired. Oliver, especially, is a bit grumpy. It is comparable (not that anything is really comparable) to the 9th month of pregnancy where you are just PISSED, huge and ready to be done. Basically, you are over it. And over it, we all are. ESPECIALLY Oliver. When you wake up everyday feeling like complete crap, it takes a toll.


That said, we are hopeful in that we CAN see the light. The numbers look promising enough to give us hope that this is the final round. We have to focus on that because if there is more, it would just feel defeating at this point. So we are throwing out to the world that we believe this to be the last, and are confident that will be the case.


Starting off day 53 with a 9am blood draw at SCCA, and mom ensuring that Oliver only got poked once with the IV try (IE: make sure it's not a novice doing it):

Meeting with the doctor went well again. Everything looks normal. Weight was down slightly but nothing to be concerned about. Vitals look good, which means his body is still responding well to treatment. His electrolytes were down slightly, so just an added emphasis on keeping him drinking. He was at about a consistent 7 all day today- so not feeling super hot. But, again, we have a method of meds that seem to be working, so we can stay on those well enough to keep a handle on it and to keep him eating.

A 7 is still pretty terrible, however. Think about it- on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the worst.... feeling like a 7, or 8, or 9 every day for WEEKS on end- you just start to get mad. And don't even really have the energy to be mad because you feel like such crap. Think: worst flu ever. Times 53 days. It doesn't help when SCCA scheduling sucks and gives you HOURS to wait in between doctor visits and infusion time. They say they do this in case doctors are running late- well, our doctor never is. So we end up waiting forever. Which really sucks when Oliver doesn't feel well. After a while, Colleen was able to talk them in to letting us back early to give him some relief.

Got back to the room, got some more drugs, and promptly was able to pass out. Thank god.  It was a pretty short lived nap as today's infusion was just the bleo- a ten minute one. They were only in the infusion room for about an hour before they headed home.

Meanwhile, I had taken the little boys over to Miss Collette's for a few hours of play time so I could get some work done.

Oliver got home and settled and spent the afternoon hanging with girlfriend Lexi. He also got some visitors from his uncle/aunt and cousins (Colleen's brother and family)-- of which I forgot to take pictures. It was a pretty busy day for him!

Bennett had a busy day too-- here he is bound and determined to have safety first as they attempt to build a bike course in our yard.

And playing frisbee this evening. These little guys are so funny- you never know what's going to strike them as the MOST FUN GAME EVER. This made the list for some reason today, despite the fact that we've had these frisbees forever. 

Our #oliverstrong shot today comes from the mountains. Soon, we will be back there ourselves. So much peace in the mountains and being out in them. Can't wait to get back out there. #oliverstrong.