Yesterday Cathy received her fourth infusion of poison, the official point of being more than halfway through chemo.  I did not accompany her for the first time.  Cathy's brother, Jonathan, went with her this time so I could do some work at school.    We've planned for her to go to chemo with other family members for the next two treatments as well.  Being at school and knowing she was at treatment was a little torturous for me, but not nearly as torturous as receiving the drugs.  The treatment room was apparently a little crowded yesterday, so she finally left at 4:00pm after arriving at 8:45am.  Jonathan sent me text updates as the day went along.  His description of events and of Cathy's poise were exactly what I've come to know from Cathy at treatment.  Those messages reassured me and helped me to visualize Cathy's positive outlook, confident patientship, and sunny disposition toward others.  Jonathan kept Cathy comfortable, double checked all of her dosages, and even remembered to give her gum before the port flush so she wouldn't taste saline.

Cathy's day 1 and day 2 have been a great improvement over the nausea that came on early with the last treatment.  She has had a pretty good appetite and higher energy level than I would expect, although as I type here on Tuesday night she is getting a little weary.  Her blood count numbers are all improved over the last treatment, as well.  Dr. Drosick told her she needs a little more protein, which is what Dr. Manders also told her will help her strengthen for surgery.  Tonight we had some tasty grassfed burgers and we'll try to have some extra salmon, beef, nuts, legumes, and protein powder in the coming weeks to get her what she needs.  Oh, that reminds me, nuts seem to be ok for Cathy now.  She has always loved nuts, but lately they have been getting lodged in the back of her throat creating what we've learned are called tonsil stones.  They aren't really stones, but instead accumulations of nut bits combined with seeds and other difficult-to-digest foods.  They aren't a big deal, just an inconvenience that is sometimes a bit smelly.  Last week she had a craving for almonds.  She ate them with no problem.  She ate them the next day and the day after that with no problems.  So nuts are back on the list of good foods for Cathy!  Maybe onions will be next?

The boys are in bed earlier than they have been in two months.  I'll get Jonah up at 5:30 (ouch) tomorrow with Aaron to follow at about 6:30.  We are praying that none of the three Ewing boys will bring any germs home from school that could cause Cathy problems.  She's making such great progress with the chemo - we would hate for that to be derailed by an infection.

Tonight I'll go to bed with a relatively good feeling wife and will likely wake up with a nauseous, fatigued wife.  We'll both remember that the chemo is working and we'll look forward to Tuesday.