Another day at ITA

Greetings from the Cancer Center Library. Mike's upstairs in the Infusion Treatment Area (ITA) and getting his infusions of DHPG and magnesium. Mike's white blood cell count is within normal range, but his hematocrit, hemaglobin and platelet levels are lower than normal. The doctor says that it could be due to the DHPG medication.

This week has been a little off for Mike. He's not feeling as well as the previous week. He's had some recurring bouts of diarreah, increasing fatigue level, occasional coughing and low grade fevers. Today the doctor sent his blood samples to get cultured to see if there's any infection going on. We won't know the results of the blood culture for another couple of days.

Overall, things are moving forward. Some days are better than others. Mike and I are getting used to our daily routine to/from the Cancer Center (occasionally we get a day off if his counts look good).

I always say, "thank goodness we like eachother as much as we do!" It goes without saying that we love eachother, but we also truly like eachother--which is a good thing since we are in home isolation mode when we're not in the hospital--it's just him and me, in our little home (with no air conditioning). At first, I had a tough time transitioning away from working at my company (which I really enjoy) to being a full time caregiver at home. But, it's really a blessing to be able to spend all this time with Mike.

We mostly spend our time watching TV and Netflix movies. We also talk a lot. We have healthy debates over politics and the state of the world and, most recently, the Paul Hamm (olympic gymnast) controversy. We also talk about our childhoods--I so enjoy hearing about his childhood and upbringing. He often speaks fondly and lovingly about his grandmother who was such an instrumental part of his life.

In my opinion, he has had his share of challenges growing up in Taipei, moving away from his family to live in a small town in Texas at the age of 12 (not knowing any English), eventually making his way to Davis, CA at the age of 14..... Because of certain circumstances, he's had to grow up quickly at a very young age. One can look at these previous circumstances as setbacks or hinderances in life, but Mike never saw them that way. He's always had the "glass is half full" mentality. Everything that has happened in his past has molded him into the responsible, hard-working, dedicated, generous, loving, successful, humble, take-nothing-for-granted guy that he is today. He has a great perspective on life.