Wed, 9/28

Well...
What to post? Not much, I guess. Stefan's white blood count is slowly getting up there, but it hasn't reach that magic number that will send him home yet. It has to reach 1000 and stay there or above for 24 hours. If he's going home Friday, that means it has to reach 1000 today. Which is possible. Not very likely, but entirely possible.

Daniella went back yesterday evening, expecting to go back this morning for a doctor's appointment, for some blood work (cholesterol check, which needs to be a fasting blood draw). When she told Stefan of her plans (her appointment time had been changed), he got pretty cranky about it. When she asked him why, he said because then she was going to be gone when the doctor came to tell them about the home care treatment procedures, like what to expect, what they need to do, what meds he'll be on, etc. Even though it's pretty unlikely that the doctor will come with that information today, Daniella had to cancel her appointment (yet again, since it had originally scheduled for early September). She will stay with Stefan until he gets his "walking papers." Or until he's less cranky about her leaving for a short while. I guess it's just cabin fever for him - he was ready to go home two weeks ago, when chemo finished.

His energy is up - he does laps around the halls, and sits in the chair instead of staying in bed all day. He's been able to sleep in longer spurts (up to an hour!) at night, since they moved his meds from night to afternoon (the ones that make him have to go to the bathroom every 15 minutes). But he's still grumbling because he hasn't had one night's sleep this whole time. I'd be cranky and grumbling too, if I hadn't had one single uninterrupted night of sleep in over a month! So, his irritability is understandable (not to mention tolerable and forgivable by Daniella). His spirits are up, probably at the prospect of going home soon. And his appetite hasn't disappeared. He may not be eating whole health foods right now, but at least he's eating. I think it's more that he hasn't been home to eat, and not that he hasn't been able to eat what he's used to at home. Because once he gets home, he'll be getting more fruits and veggies than he's getting at NMH. Sure, they have some, but not what he wants on the day he wants it. At home, he'll get plenty of veggies. And he'll start to eat a bunch more fruits. It'll be a change for him - changing his diet, but a necessary change. Still no word from them if they've seen a dietician... Hmmm... I think I better go make a phone call right now, while I'm thinking about it! Later!