Author: Greek Fighting Orange

Our day started pretty normal. Chris wanted biscuits and gravy from Bob Evans, he really seemed to enjoy that. He had walked the halls by the time I got there. Got himself cleaned up and the nurses changed the dressing on his picc line. He seemed tired so he took a nap which wound up lasting till almost 4:00! Apparently his blood pressure was low which was why he was so tired. I’m learning as we go, different things to watch for when we go home.

There was a trickle of talk about going home today! I think I can see a little light! They talked about referring us to a doc in Toledo so Chris can have his blood drawn a couple times a week and he will need to have his picc line flushed and the dressing changed. I’m pretty sure life at home isn’t going to be “normal”, but Chris will be soooo happy just to be home! Me too!

Thank you Julia and Maria for the information.

I think Chris’ favorite time of year at church is Holy Week. Father John, from Annunciation Church here in Columbus, has visited Chris a few times and he told him that they live stream their service. Chris was excited to hear that because he had been online looking for a service to watch so that was perfect. Our daughter, Jan, is going to try to FaceTime our Holy Trinity’s Friday night service with us. We are both looking forward to that.

Dr. Byrd came in today and explained to us that Chris’ numbers probably won’t start moving until Friday this week. He said it is usually 3 weeks from the date ChemOH started. It seems fitting that his numbers will go up during Holy Week, with all of our thoughts and PRAYERS too!

My honey also likes to watch videos online of different Greek singers. He hasn’t felt like doing this for a long time. Guess what he did tonight?? Yep! Watched Greek singers on his iPad! Headphones on tapping his slippered foot! It put a smile on my face. Simple pleasures!

 

 

It’s just another day here in Columbus, OH! Chris’ numbers are coming back slower than when we were in Toledo. Of course there is a number of differences and I’m sure that is why.  The biggest reason has to be that he made it thru the 7 days of chemo this time, so that is a lot to come back from!

My newest challenge is to find food Chris likes or will eat. Cindy has been very helpful with this. She will make suggestions or offer to make him something or pick up anything. Chris won’t eat the hospital food for lunch or dinner.  He will get the hospital breakfast, thankfully. We found a couple things from the cafeteria that he seems to like as well. He wanted Boston Chicken today, it took me over a half hour to get there and back. He asked for chicken pot pie and corn! He liked it so much he ate the rest for dinner. Chris rarely eats “leftovers”!

Goodnight all! ❤️

 

Yassou!

Chris needed blood and platelets today due to low numbers. His white blood count is at .5! So the docs think we will be at The James for about another 10 days. We will then get to go HOME FOR TWO WEEKS!! So close and yet so far!

So many good things are coming, I almost don’t want to mention this sad thing, but this is our story, so I must. Our doctor told us that Chris can’t plant flowers this year. If you know Chris, and I’m sure you do, you know this was sad news. He loves planting flowers in our yard every year and at our office. He was told he would have to enjoy them from inside our home. He took it pretty well, but it was sad none the less. We have a lot of flowers to plant just not this year.

Our son-in-law, Randy, uncovered our fig trees today. They are bent and thin but not broken. They will have buds on them before we know it. Large leaves will grow over the summer. Delicious fruit will begin to grow too. Come late summer or early fall we will be enjoying the fruit from our trees. Thank you Randy! Love Mom and Dad!

Chris’ blood count numbers are still about the same. I think this is a good thing, we want the numbers to go up nice and steady. Chris’ spirits are good, he is joking and picking on everyone, even the nurses. Are you surprised?

Chris has been walking around the 15th floor of the James for 3 weeks now. He knows how many rooms there are! He will show you what scenery you can see out of each side of the building. He knows the square footage of his room. He has basically measured and inspected the whole floor. (There is about 50 rooms with Leukemia patients in everyone.) He asked me to bring him binoculars so he can watch the HVAC workers on the roofs around the hospital building doing their work. He has counted the number of parking spaces in a nearby parking lot. (There is about 2000 by the way!) You might think this is all silly, I’m bored, stuff and it is partially but not totally! This is what Chris does! He would do this at work everyday! He would measure homes to quote the correct heating or air conditioning system. He would need to figure out the square footage of a commercial building to install a new roof top unit! He’ll also tell you about the flowers at a certain golf course and he would know the exact hole you would find them at. This is how he keeps his mind sharp! He is doing things that are normal for him! He is just doing it in a hospital gown and slippers! 😂

Thank you Theo Andy for bringing Mama down for a visit.