2/21/11 Busy Day at MDACC abd Birthday Report

Good Evening!

Sunday was Joe's 68th birthday which he said he was glad that he made it to this birthday since he had some doubts. I told him that I had no doubt and that he will also reach some more since that is what we are working towards. Joe was quite surprise by all the birthday greetings that people actually cared. Thank you all for making his birthday so special.

Sunday morning we went to the 11 AM church service at St Phillips Presbyterian Church on San Felipe St which is just around the corner from us. It was jammed packed with parishioners since they had an excellent female guest preacher, Dr. Fairfax from Highland Presbyterian Church in Lexington, Kentucky. She is giving four lectures this week which I am sure will be filled. The children's choir of about 20 did an outstanding job in singing two very lovely hymns that were very upbeat. Watching children performed is always touching to me and makes me smile. Rev. Bernie Nord gave the kids an enthusiastic sermon to the kids which kept their attention.

After church we headed over to Kenny and Ziggy's NY Deli on Post Oak Blvd to meet our Chinese friends, Yan and Hang, who are attending American Universities to obtain their advanced degrees. Yan is studying for a doctorate in Public Health where she can help her fellow countrymen in China. Yan is a very pretty and speaks English great. What a wonderful smile she has. Hang is studying for his Masters Degree in Business. Hang is a very motivated businessman and wants to have his own business. He loves learning how capitalism works and how to make a business successful. Hang has a perpetual smile on his face and is funny. He has a great sense of humor. They enjoyed the deli and the introduction of another type of restaurant and food in the USA. They have taught has much about China and we are way more alike than different. They are very family orientated where each generation helps the next generation financially. During spring break Yan and Hang will take their first Caribbean cruise with Royal Caribbean out of Miami. I can not wait to hear what they thought of it. They plan on seeing Alaska with their families and then Hawaii. They have visited so many places in the USA. during the college breaks.

Joe was very tired after attending church and lunch so I took him back to the studio apartment where he laid down. I had to drive over to Randall's Supermarket to get Joe some Orange and Cranberry Juice. Joe was sound asleep and eventually I also took a nice nap.

The birthday dinner reservations at The Capital Grille was at 7:15 PM only a few minutes away from where we are staying. It is located on Westheimer near the Galleria. What a pretty rich looking restaurant. They greeted us with a Happy Birthday to Joe and our table had birthday confetti on it. At my son's, Mike, suggestion I ordered the Bone In Sirloin and Joe and I shared the Lobster Mac N Cheese. As appetizers I had Lobster Bisque with chunks of Lobster. Joe enjoyed a perfect Caprese Salad. Since Joe can not drink alcohol during the chemo regimen, he had sweet Iced Tea. They do not serve and Sweet Tea in Houston thus one must add their own sweetners. Proof positive that Texas is not a Southern State. My sirloin was exactly as my son stated which was tender, juicy and lots of flavor. Joe had Steak Au Poivre which he ate half and Max had a feast with the other half along with the bone from my sirloin. The Lobster Mac N Cheese is one of those must try side items at the Capital Grille. It was cheesy with generous lumps of tender lobster with toasted bread crumbs on top. We have half of it left over and it is sitting in the refrigerator ready when the impulse hits. We were stuffed and bypassed dessert but Capital Grille served Joe a Creame Brulee but we could only just taste it. Before leaving our waitress took two photos of us and printed them for us which was given with the check. The service was fantastic. The ambiance was plush with the lighting and dark paneling. The check was big but I knew it would be since this was a special occasion place one celebrates the event. Joe loved it and was very pleased.

Monday was jammed packed with medical appointments, tests and procedures at MDACC which Dr Romaguera had set up so very quickly. Joe woke up over an hour early and was ready to go so he went to the car to wait for me. I had to put Max's kennel together and get all of Joe's drugs together to take with us. Joe drives me crazy when he does stuff like that since it stresses me out since I feel the need to rush to get everything done. His cough and congestion was worse this morning so it was good to see all the specialists who have anything to do with this area of medicine. We got to the Ear Nose Throat (ENT) clinic on the 10th floor near Elevator A at 9:00 for Joe's 10:15 appointment which meant a bunch of waiting. Joe could not eat because of the broncholopsy that was scheduled for 10:30. I called the Cardiopulmonary Department and told them we were still waiting to see the ENT doctor. The clerk told us since it was a procedure that we had to be there on time. I notified the ENT desk that we had to leave and that we would be back later that afternoon.

We got to the 6th floor near Elevator C to check in the Cardiopulmonary department right at 10:30 and we proceeded to wait till 11:30AM for Joe to be called back. A nurse came and got Joe to get his vital signs completed behind the door of the waiting room. After waiting 20 minutes, I called Joe and the set up nurse had grabbed him from the vital signs nurse to get Joe prepped for the tests. She told me where Joe was but I had no idea where to go and she had to come get me. It was not near where the reception desk told me it was. Joe was behind some curtains to change clothes. They took Joe for the procedure where they sedated him and 15 minutes later they wheeled him back into the set up area so they could watch him recover. It took more than normal time for Joe to recover since his oxygen level at 85 so they gave him oxygen. His blood pressure was also low at 95/50. After about 30-45 minutes Joe's oxygen level got up to 95 and his blood pressure to 118/59. The doctor came over to talk to us and stated that she saw no cancer in the lungs but did see a nasty infection with very thick mucus in both lobes. She sucked out the mucus and sent a culture to the lab to see what germ in causing Joe's distress. Before we left the nurse instructed Joe not to eat until 2:30 PM and we left that area about 1;00PM.

We headed back up to the 1oth floor to the ENT department hoping that the doctor could see us before we had to go to the next appointment. Joe was finally examined by the "fellow" at about 1:45PM and then Dr. Ann Gillenwater came in. They put a lighted scope up Joe's nose into the sinus. Surprisingly, she saw no infection in the sinuses thus Joe did not have sinusitis. She believes Joe has rhinitis and would send her report to Romaguera. The Doctor saw the growth on Joe's upper lip and we discussed Joe's basal and squamous cell cancer history with Mohr's surgery. She offered to have it taken off and have the tissue sent to pathology so it was taken care of without much of a fuss. We had been hoping to see someone about Joe's growths on his face so this was a bonus blessing.

Next stop was the Neurology Department on the 7th floor near Elevator B where we saw Dr Morris Groves whom we saw several months ago when Joe was in MDACC getting chemotherapy. They gave Joe a very thorough exam. I gave the updated information on Joe's seizure on 1/20 and that we were told it was because of low phosphorus. He agreed that low electrolytes could trigger a seizure but it is usually low magnesium that will cause that to happen. He told Joe to stay on the 1000 mg of Keppa twice a day. We walked out with new prescriptions so I can get the drug via Caremark mail order which will supply a 90 day supply. He also gave me a prescription for a 60 day supply for the time we are in Texas.

We were finally done and Joe was completely exhausted. I wanted him to use a wheelchair but he was too proud to use it. Yes, he can be stubborn. He was dragging and walking took so much effort. Both of us were starving since we had not eaten all day so we stopped by Brown Bag Deli at Rice Village off of Kirby Drive to get one of their tender raw tasty roast beef sandwich. Joe was so tired that he did not have the strength to eat all of it and finished maybe a half of it. He was giving me the eye to finish so he would get home. So I shoved it down and was not happy about it but kept it to myself. I stopped at the drugstore to pick up some ice bags for my shoulder and knee which was on our way home. We walked into the studio apartment at 5:00 PM which was such a long day. Joe laid on the couch with his feet up. I worked on trying to get Max's crate moved into the corner which turned out to be a sweaty ordeal. I really needed someone to help me but Joe was not able to do anything. Finally after accomplishing that goal, I crashed into the bed with Max laying next to me. About 6:45 PM Joe woke me up with his groaning since Max had crapped on the floor big time. I had forgotten to take Max out when we got back from the hospital since I was so tired. I cleaned it up the best I could with Windex and took the waste to the garbage room down the hall. Joe goes crazy with bad smells so I knew that I had to act fast. I told Joe that I was heading to Randall's to buy some cleaning supplies. When I got back to the room, Joe was gone, the windows wide open, the coffee table and chairs moved. I know he left the room to get away from the smells. I lighted a glade candle that had a nice smell to it. I got on my hands and knees to scrub the spots and smell. I then sprayed some disinfectant spray everywhere. By the time Joe came back to the room, the foul odor was gone.

About 9PM Joe decided he was hungry so I ordered a medium pizza to be delivered from Barry's Pizza. Well, Joe only ate one piece. Geez, he is running me ragged as a caregiver but somehow I maintained my sanity and patience. Joe went to bed and here I am at 11:20PM CST updating the blog.

Tuesday's agenda is REST for Joe to get some strength and stamina back. We will keep activities to a minimum but I know Joe will get antsy and want to do something. We shall see.

Thank you for those who made comments made on the blog. It gives me pleasure that people would even want to read it.

Yes, Randy, Joe and I would love to meet with you when you come to MDACC in March. In fact anyone who reads this blog, who comes to MDACC, we would love to meet you.

OKAY, I am now sleepy and I hope Joe allows me to sleep late but he has a very hard time doing that. He wants me to go with him everywhere.

Ciao!