No side effects....liars!

Bob here...I'm sure you immediately realized that if I am typing it is again at my wife's request. I feel like the infamous Mike Smrek of the 1980's LA Lakers who played center behind Kareem...I rarely see the court and now work as a part time as construction technology teacher in Canada...thanks wikipedia. That being said Mike did earn an NBA championship ring during his 2 year tenure with the purple and gold. What I"m alluding to is I'd like more playing time but don't imagine I'll get the nod to play anymore than Mike did.

I had the opportunity to be with my wife all day during her first "full" day of treatment. I say "full" because yesterday she started radiation and today was both radiation and chemo. We walked into the "chemo treatment center" and my eyes quickly scanned the room to see that everyone receiving treatment was minimum 20 years older than Jenny, bald or otherwise looking slightly disheveled as a result I'm sure of battling this despicable disease. A bit unnerving for me at least as I again for a fleeting second let the thought enter my mind "Jenny is too young for this and it's not fair we are here at this point in our lives". I do my best to not let that thought enter my mind because I know that all things happen for a reason and this is part of our plan. Jenny handled it all in stride. She sat down in this reclined seat and within 10 minutes she had an IV pumping saline for hydration, anti nausea steroids and cisplatin (the chemo). She even got a leg and foot massage which I don't think was all that soothing. This women was doing a power stance with her legs sort of in a scissor position the entire time....you know like a rocker with a guitar in a power stance...sort of like that. I'm sure you get the visual...But hey it was free.

To back up, yesterday Jenny had her first day of radiation...we were told that she should feel NO side effects for a couple of weeks. Well it wasn't a couple of weeks, it was a couple of hours. Jenny didn't even make it home. She went to her Grandma's so she could get over the sickness. She got home last night around 8:30pm. Thankfully one of our very good friends went and picked up the nausea medicine for me...it worked and Jenny was able to rest easy last night.

Now, back to today. Jenny started off fine, no sickness. We thought maybe with the medicine she would be able to cruise through today with little issue. Chemo took roughly 3 hours...pretty boring. We had two laptops, one wireless card...you do the math. I made friends with the Hispanic couple next to me and spoke Spanish with them for a little over an hour straight. I felt I should make conversation when I almost knocked over her IV due to my inability to sit still for any given period of time...now you see where Bobby gets it. Jenny on the other hand had Internet access and made the most of it. But in reality that was it for chemo. No sickness, nothing. On to radiation. Bobby was with us at this point so we went and looked at the big machine which he wanted to inspect closely (meaning touch and turn the knobs) and after 10 minutes Jenny came back and we were done...still no sickness.

Here we are a couple hours later and even with medicine, Jenny is sick. Hence the reason for playing back up center tonight. She is lying in bed doing marginally OK but nonetheless not comfortable. We just tried "Coke Syrup". I grew up on this stuff and SWEAR by it. Thanks Mom. If your kids or you are feeling queasy, go to your pharmacist and ask for it. You may find may pharmacists don't even carry it anymore. It is literally the syrup of coca cola. You do not need a prescription. Jenny has used it before and it has worked so we are giving it a try. Lets hope so.

Tomorrow Jenny has radiation again. I'm hoping she feels OK enough to drive on her own. If she can drive it is a good sign. If not, some of you may get a call to help babysit last minute.