Two days FREE for rest before the STORM

The past two days, Tuesday and Wednesday, have been islands in the gentle stream where there is calmness and time to regroup. I am delighted to say that I am finally at the end of the miserable virus with some coughing here and there  as well as blowing my raw nose. Even the monstrous cold sores are just about gone. Praise God for these blessings! Several nights of solid sleep with only one coughing episode each day was God sent and needed. I even had several good long naps in the afternoon. It is what my body needed desperately. I think I am going to need some real strength coming up. Joe goes back to MDACC for some CBC tests. I know that we will both hold our breath and have anxiety. If the white blood cells and lymphocytes go up a bunch, they will admit Joe back into the hospital for immediate chemo instead of waiting to admit him at his normal appointment on Monday. The Part A chemo that Joe got was suppose to suppress the white blood cells (WBC) but they had gone up since the end of the first round of chemo. We are praying for improvement and praying that we will be strong in handling whatever happens. God surely is directing us. Part B of the chemo regimen has two chemicals:Methotrexate and Cytarabine. When one reads the side effects, you want to run away and scream, "Are you crazy?" One must place trust in the doctors and with God most of all. Tomorrow is an important day.

The last two days have been laid back and taking it easy. Joe continues to feel great (that has got to mean something is working, you would think!) He has some swolleness in his left foot still but it has gone down. Today he said he felt some weakness in his left leg muscle but it did not slow him down.

Yesterday we did some minor shopping then took Max to the Danny Jackson Family Dog Park which was so cool. There are two fenced in sections. One is for dogs under 20 pounds and the other for dogs over 20 pounds. Each area has a dog swimming pool, benches for owners under the shade. I suppose there were about 15 dogs there running loose and having a grand time. No biting or growling at each other, the dogs just played and chased balls. Some wanted attention but none jumped up on anyone. The owners with their dogs were so friendly and Joe and I talked to a few about traveling and local restaurants. Max did not go into the pool or anywhere near it. There was a small English Bulldog about half the size of my son's Mike's bulldog. Her name was Sophie and well behaved as well as lovable. We will go back with Max another day but will stay away during the weekends when they say it is jammed.

After dropping Max off at the studio, we took a nap then headed for a late lunch and picked out an Italian restaurant with red checkered tablecloths. Joe had spaghetti with tomato sauce with some garlic bread and I had an individual cheese pizza. It was good and we may be back. Since it was off hours, there was only one other table with a couple of people.

Since there were no baseball games on TV, we decided that it would be a great night to see a movie since there would also not be very many people there which is important for Joe so he does not catch some virus. How he didn't catch mine, is a real miracle! I was able to locate the Edwards Regal Theatre off the Katy Freeway with some trouble since there was no direct exit to the theatre. Thankfully I have a good sense of direction and was able to get to it. What a beautiful clean theatre! It was really surprising how nice it was. It was more like going to an Opera House or a NY Broadway Theatre. We decided to see "The Social Network" which had great reviews from professionals and regular people. It was a heck of an intriguing story with a moral ending. Don't screw your friends! After the show it was about 9:30 and we were hungry. Across the breezeway there was a restaurant called Red Robin who supposedly sold gourmet hamburgers which is a dangerous statement to make so we gave it a try. My first question to the waiter was, "Will you cook my hamburger the way I want it cooked, medium rare?" He was honest stating that they cook their hamburgers medium well and well done. GROAN! I asked in my best nice voice to have the cook the burger as least as he could get away with. Within a few minutes, our cheeseburgers came off the grill sizzling hot and I smiled as I bit into the burger. It was medium, juicy, flavorful and hot. Both Joe and I were happy customers. We were the last customers to leave which was a good thing since it meant no many people around.

Today is Wednesday and today was even more laid back than Tuesday. After flushing Joe's PICC lines as I do every morning before we venture out. This morning it was time to try Panera Bread around the corner on the other side of the block. Nicely decorated with some great looking pastries and large bagels we  finally found a place that is a happy medium between Joe and me. He loved the coffee and the Cinnamon muffin. I enjoyed my toasted sesame seed bagel with light cream cheese. After a leisurely light breakfast we headed to MicroCenter since Joe wanted to buy an easy manual for the iPhone features. I also got a screen cleaner. We looked for a label maker but they were too expensive so we headed to Costco and bought a cheaper one made by Brothers as well as a nice long sleeve shirt for Joe. It is hard not to just buy one thing. Shameful! We looked for the Ocean Spray Apple Juice that Joe craves but alas they did not carry it. I looked in so many stores so I suppose that we will have to order it on-line.

This afternoon Joe took Max with him as he wanted to do some more detail work on the Lexus. Joe loves his cars sparkling clean that they look new. He does an amazing job. He said Max sat on the back seat of the Lexus and took a snooze.

Now it is almost 7PM CST which means the World Series Game will be starting soon and our grand entertainment for the night. About 9PM I will pick up a Chinese dinner order at P F Changs about 2 miles from our studio. Yummy!

I am so grateful for the last two days where we did not have to go to MDACC. Tomorrow could open a new scary chapter but Joe and I are in it together to win this fight. We are enjoying our time together and just taking it easy.

Ciao,