Tuesday, September 30th

It has been a very long road so far but today is Harry's last radiation therapy treatment. Due to the power of the radiation he can never have it again for this cancer. He will miss seeing the therapy guys every day but we are hoping that the ability to swallow starts getting easier.

He did not have a very good day yesterday but he had chemo and radiation, so it was also a long day. He was not very hungry yesterday either. I bought some gatorade for him yesterday because he is sweating so much that we need to replace the fluids. Today we are going to see his medical oncologist Dr. Black, to try and determine what is causing the sweating.

He now has his own little hotel suite. A friend of mine,Darren, helped me get a small refrigerator/freezer to his room (boy does he love having that) and later I moved our microwave upstairs as well. So he is pretty set up.

So today we have a doctor's appointment and radiation and then we should get a break for about 3 weeks. I will post an update sometime tonight and let you know what the doctor says..

Take care and thanks

Saturday, Sept 27

Good Morning;

Harry is doing well. He has 2 more radiation treatments so that will end on Tuesday and he is having a chemo treatment on Monday. Then he is supposed to have a couple of weeks or so without treatment - that is up to Dr. Black. He has been told that the 2 weeks after radiation could increase pain. But for now his pain is under much better control than it was before the hospital. He is sleeping a lot but when he is awake, he's awake. He is eating better and that's a good thing with all the medications.

Thank you again to all of you who called or visited during his hospital stay -

Keep praying.....

Mona

Thursday, Sept 25th

We are home from the hospital. I am swamped right now but he is good. Eating again and a new slew of medicines I have to figure out before I miss one - 2 pharmacies to get it all.. Anyway I will write more later - just wanted you to all know he was home..

Mona

Wednesday

Good Morning all,

Good new Harry is back eating solid foods. He is sounding stronger every time I speak with him. It also sounds like his pain is getting somewhat under control. So from what they are telling me he should be going home in the next day or 2. He has been getting his radiation treatments while in the hospital but he has not had a chemo treatment.

Thank you to all who have visited him in the hospital, he really enjoyed that. I am heading back to New Orleans in the morning and land before noon.

My next post will not be till I get home.

Thanks again to all,

Mona

Monday, September 22

Harry is still in the Hosptial. He had a very busy weekend. My sister's, Robert Wilson, his mother, Joycelen Adams, Andre Neff and his cousins Mike & Jan Ravain all came to visit or stay with him to help. He enjoyed it but he was very tired.

He is still having difficulty swallowing and he now has a Gastroenterologist. He is now getting Nexium in an attempt to help him swallow. I spoke with him this morning and he was heading to Radiation Therapy. I will check with him again soon and see if he is having Chemo Therapy today as well. If he can't eat soon - we may have to put in a feeding tube - but that is not definite.

Ms. Grace Jackson is sitting with him and he already is betting with her on when the phone rings - if it is me or not and I think Harry is winning. Harry has his cell phone so you can try to call he may or may not answer...

I will post more later tonight after I speak with his nurse and let you know.

Thanks for the prayers - we need for him to be able to swallow..

Love to all

Mona & Harry

Friday

Harry is doing much better today. They have completely changed his pain medication drugs and routine - for the first time since this started he went 4 hours without medication. They have changed his insulin, and all his heart medications have been stopped for the time being until his vitals all come back within range. He is still eating a clear liquid diet - but he is eating and the swallowing is better. They are not doing any radiation treatments until Monday - so we have 7 left. As for chemotherapy - i will have to talk to the doctor again. He will be in the hospital for a few more days.

My sister's and Andre are going to help throughout the weekend and then we have a sitting service until I get back from Philly.. I will update as often as I can..

thanks

Mona

Thursday Night

Harry has been admitted to the hospital. He has been dehydrated and having difficulty swallowing so Dr. Monsour thought it would be best that we get into the hospital so they could build him backup. We have not seen any doctors yet - we were in the emergency room from 230pm - 930p before they moved us into his room. We are at East Jefferson General Hospital. I do not know how long he will be there, but it should be a very short stay. He is going to be just fine - in fact after the first bag of saline, he was much better alreay. I have to travel on Sunday and I am in the processing of hiring a 24/7 sitter until I return on Thursday.

I will post again tomorrow night..

Thanks for everything
Mona

Good Days - Bad Days

Harry has not really felt good since last Friday. The weekend was quiet and he did ok. Monday was not so good. Tuesday was better. Yesterday he drove himself to radiation. These are the ups and downs you all hear about. Our biggest problem is eating right now. Mashed Potatoes last night were like sand - even liquid supplements he is having trouble swallowing. He has been trying to rest but that's difficult when you are getting up every 2 hours for pain pills.

So we are doing ok - this is just a rough patch. He has a total of 7 more radiation treatments and hopefully after that the swallowing and pain will go away. He also has 1 more half chemotreatment, then he gets a few weeks off before they do a full round of chemo.

Thanks again to all

Sunday, September 14th

Hello all,

Very slow weekend, Harry's stomach was not quite right all weekend. He is beginning to stretch out the pain pills a little - so that is good also... overall slow but good. He has another Chemo treatment tomorrow..

For all of you who know my brother - We made it through another storm. He graciously gave us refuge during Gustav and then Ike visited. He lives in Seabrook, TX. Yes the one you have been seeing on the news. He was under a mandatory evacuation and they all got out. It appears that their home is going to be ok. No Flooding in his neighborhood, lots of wind damage but he has no trees - so that is good. Until he gets back to Texas we do not know for sure what or if he had damage. I will update you more after he gets home on Tuesday.

God has watched over all of us and I am really glad he spared our home for Gustav and their house for Ike, but it's kind of a replay - only the last time it was Katrina and Rita.. my brother and I need to quit tempting Hurricanes.

Love all,

Mona

Friday, Sept 12

Good Morning All,

It looks like we are going to avoid having to evacuate for IKE - but while we were out yesterday afternoon - the winds had already picked up considerably. We are expecting heavy rain bands and winds today.

Now for Harry news. Wednesday he went shopping on his own, to the doctor on his own, and did all the laundry and dishes... He was very tired on Thursday but otherwise he did fabulous. Today he is driving himself to the doctor again. I still plan to go with him on Monday's (chemo and doctor day) but other than that - he is capable of making that trip on his own. PROGRESS!!

Anyway - we are expecting to have a quiet weekend.

Everyone stay safe..

Mona & Harry

Wednesday, Sept 10

Well another new event.. Harry recorded scratch vocals for Benny - last night - 1 take.. He felt pretty good after.

Long chemo treatment yesterday, he tossed and turned most of the night, but he got up this morning, showered and ran a few errands and then drove himself to radiation. He sounded pretty good the last I spoke with him.

Hopefully he did not tire himself out - It really looks like we are moving forward..

Thanks again for all your prayers..

Mona

Tuesday, September 9th

Well all seems to be going very well. We are about 1/2 way through the radiation therapy. We saw Doctor Black yesterday -the medical oncologist, Harry will have 3 more low dose chemotherapy session and then approximately a 3 week break and then a full round of chemotherapy. We won't know until they take more scans at the end exactly how many more chemotherapy treatments to expect.

We see Dr. Monsour every Monday - they are going to shift the radiation a little to get it away from his spine and esophagus and maybe help his swallowing. Harry has lost about 25 lbs but they do not want him to lose anymore because of his immune system - so we spoke with a nutritionist yesterday. They are happy to let him keep off the 25 but do NOT want him to lose anymore until the treatment is over.

Harry is very happy with the loss though - he is a lot less lethargic and he feels much better.

Harry also recorded with Benny Grunch last night, for a new album in December, it should be great as usual. You can find information on the band at www.bennygrunch.com. Benny has been a true friend to Harry and I both through all of this and we love and appreciate him for that. This was the first time Harry has played drums since he got sick and he tells me it felt great to play.

We have someone coming to look at the roof today - to see if we have any leaking issues and get an estimate of repair - and it looks like we just might escape the wrath of Hurrican IKE. Let's hope it misses Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas completely.


Thanks for the prayer - they are working and we appreciate it ..

Love, Mona & Harry

Friday, Sept 5th

Hello all,

Just thought I would give you an update. Harry had radiation therapy yesterday - it was great to see that all the people who are helping Harry came through the storm ok, we actually missed seeing them.

I thought you should know that Harry spent most of the day writing a song. He has not done that in a while - boy was I glad to see that. He also was taking apart one of the drums he wants to have repainted for the new album cover. He even has a session to cut one track coming up. So since we have returned - he is definitely more active than he has been.

We should hear from the other doctors today or tomorrow and get back into chemo next week.

Thanks for all your prayers - he feels them. And we know that it is working.

Stay safe and we hope all of our friends in South Louisiana are well and home.

We're Home - Thursday

We made it back from Broussard last night. There are quite a few roof shingles in the yard but we can't figure out where they came from yet. We have a few things in the yard to pick up but we have electricity; cable; phone and water.. so we are doing just great. Harry is going to have a radiation treatment today. We are waiting to hear from the pulmonologist and the medical oncologist today or tomorrow.

Thanks to my brother and his family for their hospitality in Houston; to my sister Karen and her husband in Broussard for their hospitality... and to my sister Missy for making it through all this safely.

Thanks to everyone for being concerned..

Mona & Harry

Tuesday after Gustav

Hello All;

We have no information on our house as of yet and we are still in Houston. My brother and his family were very gracious in putting us up in such a hurry. We will probably head to my sister's in Broussard later today so we are closer to home and getting Harry back into treatment. He is supposed to have radiation therapy today and chemo on Thursday - but I do not think that they are going to let us back in until tomorrow anyway. I will keep you all updated.. take care..

Mona