Monday, October 13th..

Harry is still in the hospital. He has good days and bad. He had a bad day on Saturday and a good morning and afternoon yesterday but last night was a little different. He was sweating quite a bit and we changed the bed out several times. We're not sure what is causing this but maybe when the doctor comes back today we'll get some answers.

He did have a great afternoon, his mother, cousins, sister and brother in law and some very dear friends came by for a visit. He really enjoyed the company.

Well, that's it for now.... I will update more after the doctor passes today.

Mona

Friday, October 10th

Harry is doing well in the hospital. They are still feeding him intravenously and they are taking blood everyday and adjusting his nutrients. He is now drinking with more success but the jello at lunch had fruit in it and it went down but not so easy. He put 2lbs back on from the 32 he lost. He was able to take a shower this morning. But we are not rushing his leaving the hospital. He has talked to his doctors about staying until he really can eat. I suspect we may be in the hospital until next weekend but I am not sure. I will update again after the weekend.

Mona

Wednesday, Oct 8th

Harry had a very good birthday - even though it was in the hospital and he could not eat his cake. Thanks to everyone one who called, you really made his day. Thanks to all those who visited, he really enjoyed your company. Mike & Jan - you really made it special.

Well, this morning they started him on IV food, they did not want to put a feeding tube in they said it was only another site that could get infected so they are feeding him through the port where his chemotherapy is administered. I saw him at lunch and he was in a very good mood, he even said he felt the food in his stomach already. I do not know how long we will be in the hospital but I am assuming it to be about a week.

He also was able to swallow some water without choking - and that is a miracle. Anyway I will update with more in a day or two.

Thanks for the prayers..

Mona

Monday, Not so good

Harry is back in the hospital. He has not eaten since last Thursday night and is having an extraordinarily difficult time swallowing. The pain is mostly gone but even water is difficult to swallow. So for now we are back at hospital.

He has not seen the doctor yet today but I will update blog tomorrow when I have more information.

Mona

Friday, October 5th

Harry is still doing good. He has completely eliminated one of the pain medications - and is not in constant pain. He is more alert when awake than he has been in a long time. But he is resting, as he calls it, most of the day.

The big day is around the corner. He will turn 60 on Tuesday. Still have not decided if we will celebrate now or later - it is a day to day thing.

I think we are getting a lot closer to seeing you out and about. Again thanks for all the prayers.

Mona & Harry

Boy What a Difference A Day Makes

Harry had a very good day yesterday. He completed his radiation therapy and even got a diploma. We also saw Dr. Black, his medical oncologist. Harry will not have any treatments until after October 21st. They want his body to heal. We know for sure that the tumors and lymph nodes have shrunk. We have also been told that the radiation continues to shrink the disease for the next few weeks. So while we are looking forward to the break he does have an appointment with Dr, Jeanfreau on Oct 9th; Dr. Black on Oct 21st and Dr. Monsour on Oct 28th, with a round of blood work on the week of the 14th.

Harry even told me yesterday that Dr. Schuette said knows Harry is getting better because in his experience when women get better they get happy and when men get better they get grumpy (while Harry has not been grumpy - he has returned to having an opinion on everything, including telling me how I have put things in the house in the wrong place).

As for the sweating we were concerned about Dr. Black changed around his pain medication doses and we will see how that works, but he slept in the spare bedroom last night and for some reason - no sweating. Don't know why - but both of us were very happy about that.

He has not been eating as well because it is hard to swallow but like Dr. Black said yesterday - it did not take a week for the swallowing problem to come on so don't expect it to go away in a week.

So don't be surprised in the next few weeks if you see us out and about - that's what I am praying for and the preparation for round 2.

Love to all,

Mona & Harry

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