Holidays

Treatment #7 didn't end up being such a great one. Two Saturdays ago Mike woke up and couldn't get out of bed. He was dry-heaving, sick to his stomach and he had a lot of stomach pain. He stayed in bed the whole day. I kept bringing him up food and liquids to drink. He was so nauseous and he couldn't keep anything down. It was awful to watch. Then he would get the sweats and feel like he was going to pass out. I wanted to call his oncologist but he insisted that he would be fine. I now know not to listen to him... Four days later on Christmas Eve we ended up back at Dana Farber. I had called his doctor on Tuesday night and he insisted that we came in on Wednesday. I was upset because I didn't want to go to DF on Christmas Eve. I had planned on cleaning the house and preparing food all day. But Mike's health comes first. I knew we had to go so he could feel better. Mike was in a lot of pain again on Tuesday night. He couldn't get off the couch. To make matters worse I was in the kitchen getting food ready for Christmas and saw something out of the corner of my eye go running across the floor. I started screaming and jumped onto one of the chairs. It had looked like a rat! Mike came in but missed the animal! Then we could not find it and I started to think that I had hallucinated and never really saw anything. About 10 minutes later it came back upstairs and Mike spotted it. It was a mole! We have no idea how it got into the house. I called my dad crying and he came over with traps to help us get it out. We were not able to get it out on our own but my dad and Mike's dad went through the basement and we think it may have ran out the door while they were moving things around. We have not seen it since so it must have gotten out. Needless to say we did not have any visitors on Christmas Day thank god!

On Wednesday, Mike's dad went to the hospital with us. The doctor was disappointed that we didn't call sooner... Mike was severely dehydrated and had lost 12 pounds from the week before. The doctor gave him new meds to help with his constipation from all the narcotics. He also got 2L of fluids. He was feeling better by the time we left. Once we got home he took a nap before we went to my parents for Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve and Christmas day were a blessing! Christmas Eve was at my mom and dads and Christmas Day was at our house. Both days we spent with all of our immediate family. Mike felt good and was able to eat and drink again. Thanks to Mike's brother Doug and Tim I found my new love of wine/champagne. I kept saying how I was grown up and was more sophisticated. :) We played pool, exchanged gifts, and ate tons of food. Ava had a great Christmas too! She had tons of gifts to open and was really excited the whole day. Mike and I both agreed it was the best Christmas ever! 

Mike's Family

My Family

The Howell's <3

Typical Day

Ava & her new bike

Me & my Fighter!

Like I've said before we need to have a few good days to forget about all the bad days and suffering that goes with it. Every day is a struggle but every day he feels good is a victory for us and we will take it. 

Today was treatment #8 for Mike. He woke up feeling pretty sick. He had a migraine and started to throw up. He didn't think that he was going to make it to treatment but I kept insisting that he needed to go. Even if the doctor decided that he didn't want him to have treatment I wanted him to get checked out. After learning the hard way too many times I don't like to mess around when he doesn't feel well. We were late but we made it. My mom came with us today. She was on Christmas shut down at her work so it was one of the only times she would be able to come in with us. It was nice having her there. Mike did awesome at treatment today. I didn't think he was going to do so well considering the way he was feeling this morning. His nurse Elena is amazing. She knows what Mike needs and likes. She got him a private room with a bed today which he prefers over the chemo chair. She also turned the heat off for him so the room was cooler by the time we got in there. Last week we gave her a card with a purple ribbon and a Mike's Fight bracelet. Today she was wearing both of them. It's amazing to see how much the staff cares for Mike. He truly is in good hands at Dana Farber. He was able to sleep most of the time and he didn't get sick. When we got home he surprised me and even ate some dinner! I am so proud of him. I can not imagine what he is going through physically and mentally, but yet he handles it so well. I am honored to be his wife and I love him so much.

I've been doing pretty well too. Emotionally I have been feeling pretty good. It never gets easy. The scary thoughts never go away but you find a way to get through it each day somehow. I will never understand the why's and what if's. There's no point wasting your time and energy on those things. You just have to do what you have to do in the moment. We hug and kiss as often as we can. We tell each other we love each other all day long... it never gets old. We laugh and we cry when we need to. We do it all together... I know I am not alone and neither is he.

Mike and I are happy to say that we have booked a vacation! In February Mike, myself and Ava will be taking a road trip to Disney World in Florida. We can not wait. It will be a great time. Mike's brother got us a video camera for Christmas so between that and my new fancy camera we will be making many memories! We are hoping that some of our families will be able to meet us in Florida too.

Praying for Mike to have a quick recovery from this weeks treatment!

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