Tonight I realized that I write a lot about the times that Cathy is feeling bad, but not so much about the times that she's feeling good.  I'm not sure there is any logic behind this other than the thought that maybe most readers are concerned about her and would want to know her status as she deals with tough situations.  There are, however, many good times - like today and the last few days.  Today, Cathy has felt quite good, in fact quite good for the last three or four days.  Last night and today she ate to the point that she was really full, even uncomfortably full, because the food tasted good and she had an appetite.  This week she has been able to attend the boys school open houses and meet the teacher nights, as well as Jonah's percussion preview concert tonight.  Most times she generally avoids crowds, not because she feels bad right now, but because her white blood cell counts are low and she's susceptible to infection.  I've written about her treatment weeks and her ups and downs, but I thought maybe an overview of a three-week period might be of interest.  These descriptions may be 12-24 hours off or vary slightly, but after three treatments this is what we've come to expect - ups and downs.

Day 1-2: Slightly nauseous and body out of balance, light appetite
Day 3-5: Pretty nauseous, desperately dry mouth, unbelievably tired, achy, no appetite
Day 6-8: Moderately nauseous, dry mouth, pretty tired, slight appetite, can't digest food
Day 9: "Ah, Tuesday."
Day 10-14: Slightly nauseous, dry mouth, fatigued in the evening, appetite returning, little trouble digesting food
Day 15-21: Intermittently nauseous, sometimes fatigued in the evening, appetite good, digestion mostly good

So those first 8 days are pretty hard on Cathy, but after that the bad feelings are to a lesser degree and not constant.  The tricky part is that from day 9 to day 21 nausea, bad digestion, or extreme fatigue can just show up without warning.  For the most part, though, those days are almost like normal Cathy.  During those days (and even when she feels awful) she looks good, smiling and joking.  She's just the best.