4-9-16, R4, D5. Home is Where Your Own Bed Is

We did it! They did it! Whoever did it, we are so grateful!

Mike finished his last bag of the chemo combination meds at 3:10, which as a little over an hour ahead of schedule. Fist Pump!

Then they hooked up his last Zofran infusion and after that, the meds to help with the bladder damage/irritation. The final bag that got infused was the Cytoxan (the bladder killer) and that was 2.5 hour bag. It finished at 6:30, and if Mike had more energy, I think he would have jumped up and down at the excitement of getting out of the hospital on Saturday night. One of the nurses came in to change his Picc dressing real quick and we were walking to the car at 7:00. On the nose. The hospital stay/chemo portion of Round 4 is OVER!

I know Mike is starting to stress a little more each day about how long he will be feeling down this time, and also getting some anxiety about the PET scan on the 20th. We don't talk about it too much, but it feels like it's there, hanging over our heads.

On a different subject, a good friend to us had some bracelets made to raise a little money. They are so cool. Lime green for Non Hodgkins Lymphoma with Purple print for Hodgkins Lymphoma. It says Mike Horton on one side, and Never Ever Give Up on the other. Anyways, if you're interested in getting one, they are $3 and you can contact me or Chanda Koechner here in Atchison. Also, we will have them at the benefit in Seneca tomorrow. Speaking of the benefit... I have been seeing all of the amazing donations from the most generous people. I could never say enough thank you's. It's crazy to think that everyone feels like the world is falling apart, when I see all of this good right in front of my eyes. Love makes the world go 'round.

Mike is already crashed in bed, and we've only been home for an hour. Each round has worn him out more than the one before because his dose keeps getting adjusted higher. I believe he is getting 2x the dose from the 1st round at this point. The extreme fatigue is all the more reason he wanted to be out of there as soon as possible. He was really looking forward to sleeping in his own bed tonight, free of any IV lines. It was his goal going into this week, and he reached it! Reid was pretty excited to have him home, too. He crawled right up in bed with Mike and then patted his own back like, "Scratch my back, Dad!" Who could resist him, though?

I'm thinking going to bed early on a Saturday night actually sounds really good. Wow. If you have known me for very long, I hope you were sitting down when you read that. Times have changed. Oh have they, ever.

XOXO

Robin