The "Red Devil" enters Joe!

Last night I stayed with Max in the studio apartment to get away from the hospital to get myself renewed. I shamelessly slept to 11:45AM in that big comfortable king size bed with awesome sheets and pillows. I did not realize how much I needed to do that until I did it. Not more than 15 minutes later I got a call from Ollite Templeton who was at MDACC to meet with Dr. Romaguera to go over the results of all her tests she had last week. Jess, her daughter, was scared to death over worrying about her mother, Ollite. Jess had posted on the on-line support site for Mantle Cell Lymphoma. I have reached out to Jess over the last two weeks to tell her that all will be OK and that her Mom is in the best of hands. When Ollite was at MDACC just before Thanksgiving, we could not get together since her schedule was so filled up with appointments. Joe and I definitely know how that is. Running from place to place and hurry up and wait for your name to be called. Jess had e-mailed me last night and she gave her Mom my cell phone number to contact me. Her Mom would be at MDACC all day today with her father, Larry and her Aunt and Uncle who are all from Louisiana. They have some relatives that work at MDACC so they will have some support from family members locally. Ollite had asked me if I was at MDACC and I told her a little white lie and that I was and that I would meet her and her posse' at the Gazebo at 1PM. I thought if she knew that I was still at the hotel, she would have felt bad about me making a trip over there to meet with her. The way I looked at it was that I was going over there anyway to be with Joe for the rest of the day. I met all of them at the Gazebo area on the 3rd floor and spoke with them for about an hour. Ollite is a very pretty soft spoken lady and obviously very worried as all of us are. She had lymph nodes growth on her neck and other places. She had it biopsied in Louisiana and the first time they said it was not malignant. Unfortunately it kept growing and now she has a growth in her throat. There have been several list members who had the same thing but they are blessedly in remission and that there is hope as well as many treatment options. The previous week Romaguera told her that she would be at MDACC for six months. We all pray that when she saw the doctor at 4PM that she would have better news. I have not heard back from her and I pray that God gives her the strength to fight this cancer and give her peace as well as confidence that she will have more good years on this earth. She is in good hands.

I got to Joe's room about 2:15PM and he was sitting in the chair very quiet and his body language told me that he was sad. He was very tired and listless but in no pain. While I was there, he did have a low grade fever which I bought to the attention of the nurse and Tylenol bought it down. I noticed tonight his ankles were a little bit swollen like that were when he had part A chemo the first time. He also now has had the chemo "Red Devil" for over 24 hours which is very harsh on the body and still had another 24 hours to go. If the Red Devil were to get onto one's skin, it would bubble up and burn and here they are putting it into his veins. Joe did have some tears in his eyes but he held them back by closing them. I tried by best to cheer him up. For dinner I got take-out from Outback Steaks which he loves which perked him up a little bit and was so appreciative that I went and got it and we had our steak dinner on the hospital table. After that we laid next to each other on the bed with our arms around each other. I rubbed his back and legs which made him relax. He kept saying how sleepy he was and at 10PM he said that he was going to sleep for the night and for me to go back to Max and stay the hotel for the night. He said that it was good for me and that he would be find. I made sure the small light was on in the bathroom. His "call" remote next to him on his pillow and his cell phone near him to call me if he needed me. He was getting a unit of blood then and another was ordered when that one was done. The red blood usually perks Joe up since when his counts are low, he has no energy. After a week in the hospital which included the four day holiday weekend, anyone would get down. Joe is no different but he would never admit to that fact.

Thank you for those who make comments on my blog. I read them everyday and appreciate people taking time to do that. Joe and I just want to get back to Atlanta and to our home. I pray that is sooner rather than later but most importantly, Joe's health is number one. We will take care of this business and hopefully continue it in Atlanta rather than Houston.

May the Lord be with you and give you peace, love and hope!

Ciao!