GQ Joe, once again sporting his new hat and green face mask (and not just for Halloween), along with his 32 day old immune system, visited the specialist at Wash U today for his 30 day check-up.  All his vitals and blood work are in the normal ranges!  As you may remember, when he was in the hospital, we were tracking his White Blood Count (WBC), Hematocrit (HCT) and Platelets.  When he left the hospital, his WBC was 6.6, today it was 7.6 (normal range is 3.8 to 9.8).  His HCT was 27.0 and today it was 31.8 (normal range is 36.1 to 50.3) and his Platelets were 27 and today they were 197!  All other vitals were good and he gained 2 lbs.  [...]

Things we've learned -- McDonald's is not a good idea!  Although he's had a little bit of a rough week with lots of "side effects", on Day 29, he decided to have McDonalds for dinner.  As a result, Day 30 which had been touted as "the day you wake up and think...man, I feel better today" didn't happen.  As if that burger was Chemo, Joe was up all night and then most of the day today in the restroom :(  Not even lunch today stayed around for very long.  [...]

Sporting his new hat (and a lovely green industrial strength face mask to keep germs out), Joe walked into the doctors office, sat among other patients, and had a very good check-up with the doctor.  We saw his regular primary care doctor today for a non-cancer check-up.  [...]

Overall, Joe is doing "as expected".  He hasn't had a great week this week.  Lots of nausea and other side effects along with some significant foot pain and fatigue.  As I may have mentioned before, he has neuropathy pain in his feet.  This is caused by a combination of his diabetes and the chemo drugs he's been on.  Unfortunately, there is not a lot of treatment for the foot pain, but he does have one drug that targets those nerves along with a pain killer.  Of course, that puts him to sleep.  He would describe this week as "icky".  While we're not happy about this, according to his doctors, it is to be expected at Day 26.[...]

Joe continues steady progress.  Overall pretty good days with some nausea and other side effects at some time of most days.  

He managed to sew the back of his hat so it fit (and fixed a pillow that needed to be stitched). He also maneuvered his way to the garage to fix the vacuum cleaner.  He was disappointed that he couldn't find some silicone caulk in the garage so he could fix some pipes in the yard.  After all his years of working 60+ hours a week, he clearly doesn't understand the meaning of rest.  With that said, Mom is on him like a hawk to make sure he doesn't do too much but she is on him to  make sure he continues to take walks around the house and regain strength.[...]

Joe had a good day today!  He slept really well last night from 10 pm to 7 am.  Nausea was minimal today and he was able to eat several small meals throughout the day and stayed on time with his medications.  Vital signs were all good.  [...]

For the last two days, things have really been status quo.  Monday he went to the doctor and had a pretty good day.  They told us that he would definitely have good days followed by not so good days.  Tuesday was a not so good day with lots of nausea and other side effects.  Wednesday (today) has been a pretty good day.  We'll see if this pattern holds true for tomorrow, so we anticipate tomorrow won't be a great day.   The basic rule of thumb is that when he feels better, he probably pushes himself which wears him out and makes him not have a great day the following day to recover from doing to much.  If you know Joe, this will absolutely hold true for him!  Last night he was talking about needing to get in the garage and start cleaning it out.  I think I have held him off until some Saturdays in October when I can go over to do that and he can help me.  By then, he'll also be at the 30 day mark when he should start to be feeling better pretty consistently.  [...]

Although he doesn't feel great, sleeps a lot during the day so can't sleep at night, still has some nausea, very tired/fatigued, and dealing with some other side effects, he had an outstanding doctor report today!  They said he looked great and was doing better than expected.  [...]

Day 16 has been uneventful.  The transplant team told him to expect to feel weak and "puny" when he arrived home, and today was one of those days.  [...]

Joe is home and resting comfortably.  Still has quite a bit of nausea and the Compazine provides for a nice long nap after food.  He had a restful night and day.  Mom is waiting on him hand and foot as if she were a RN and a medical tech changing shifts every 12 hours.  That is driving him a little batty as he worries about her.  Yes, in times like this you can tell they've been married 50 years!  [...]