I've decided that anyone living with any life-threatening disease needs a break from making that their daily focus. Doug and I were fortunate enough to have that break before heading into the bone marrow transplant that starts in earnest April 30th.
It is nothing short of a miracle of God's grace and answers to your prayers that Doug has been working now for 3 months, traveling and he even attended meetings in the North Carolina last week specifically for his continuing education with others who do similiar work in the United States and Canada. I went with Doug and had my own relaxation while he was in meetings. We also had times together to build lasting memories. During our time away we didn't even mention anything to each other about cancer or what is ahead. It was a refreshing change of pace.
That changed when we returned this week. On Monday we went to Dallas and met with Kristi, the transplant coordinator. She went over Doug's daily schedule for the month of May. Doug will be treated on an out-patient basis. Some days he'll have to be at the clinic all day. On other days just until his labs are drawn and review of his progress is evaluated. Kristi also reviewed the results of all his previous tests and his current labs/marker numbers. She wanted to answer any questions we might have before he signed the official consent forms for the transplant.
When Dr. Collins came into the room to answer any questions we might have of him he acknowledged that after reading through Dr. Mandells reports from November onward that Doug had been a very ill man. He confirmed that the disease caused that. Now the disease is under control. He didn't sugar coat the fact that there will be days when Doug will have similiar feelings (fatique, nasua, pain, weakness, etc.) but for every sympton there is something they can do to make him comfortable. Doug just needs to speak up and let them know immediately what is bothersome to him.
Their goal is to destroy all remaining cancer then bring him back to health. We both feel we have been at the lowest possible place already. This time if we go to that point again it will only be short-lived and there will be a team of specialists to assist us at every step of the journey. Before it was hard on me as I felt so responsible for making the correct decisions for his care.
We are thinking positive thoughts. In fact when Doug's colleagues at the meetings would say, "Doug, it is so good to see you." His reply was "It's good to be seen." He still can't believe that he has cancer. Like all of us we think that a terminal disease is something other people get. Yet when we go to clinic and wait in waiting rooms we realize that cancer is no respecter of age, race, gender or any other stereotypical classification.
We are looking forward to having this behind us and appreciate your continued prayers and support. Even though we'll be very busy, I'll try to blog as often as possible.
~Carole
