Day #12 Phew, time goes a lot slower without Katie here

My white blood cell and platelet counts continue to drop lower and lower as they die from the chemo and the end of their life cycle. They will bottom-out in a couple days. If my platelets drop low enough I will need a blood transfusion. My new immune system that is starting to form will start producing new cells around Thursday. I am now feeling the effects of the chemo a lot. I am feeling more fatigued and it is difficult to keep food and drink down. I haven't thrown up at all, thankfully, but diarrhea and hiccups have been present.

I was told today that the eighteenth (+ or - a few days) I will be able to be discharged from the hospital. After that, I will be able to go to guest housing or somewhere nearby for a few day so I can visit the clinic once a day for tests. So, I have a near term target to shoot for. Another near term target is the arrival of Katie once again. She is the best medication yet.

I had a lot of visitors yesterday. My dad's cousin's Don and Christine Biser came by go give me encouragement and enjoyable conversation. Later, my dad's mother Josephine came by with my Aunt Gail and Uncle Alex. It was great to see them all and I really enjoyed their visit. My Grandma Helquist on my mom's side also came by to say hello.