...checking in...

 This is from yesterday...apparently, it didn't post...sorry about that :)


Hello from Indy (I don't known why I say that -where else would we be?)

Today has been a tough day for Kurtis.  His counts are way down and he is feeling particularly crappy.

I talked to the nurse who is sort of in charge yesterday and asked her a lot of questions about the therapy and what is exactly happening in Kurtis' body. Here is what I learned...

When chemo is given, it rushes throughout the body and kills fast growing cells. This is why people lose their hair...hair is a fast growing cell. Once the chemo is in, if it is working, the tumor markers are going to fall.  Thus, Kurtis' initial HCG decline is due to the "burst" of chemo.  Although the chemo is out of his body now, he is still fighting the tumors and the HCG. Think of the HCG like it is floating around his body, and it, just like other things that our body doesn't use...it has to be sent out. Good news is that even though the chemo is out of his body, the tumor is still melting and should continue to go down.

Got that? Great...here is the next part...

While his chemo raged through his body, it also killed some (or a lot really) of his good cells.  So, even though he is several days out from getting his chemo AND he has already gotten his stem cells back, his other counts are going to continue to fall and hit rock bottom.  At this point, Kurtis is going to feel the worst.  His energy will be (and is) completely depleted and he is just going to generally feel like crap...and he does. He is also the most vulnerable to infection during this time, so he is required to wear a mask in and out of the hospital and is also not allowed to eat certain foods.

Today he is feeling quite terrible, which sucks. I spent most of the day outside wandering around Indy with the creature while Kurtis' mom stayed in the hospital with him. I think I wore my dog out ... hopefully. When he was finishing up his fluids for the day, he spiked a little bit of a fever. It is back down from last time they checked, so that is good. However, he Is currently waiting to be checked into the hospital. He is feeling really bad, and feels like it is time to be in the hospital for a few days. Although I hate to see him in the hospital, I feel like it may0

It's actually a good thing at this point. He will be able to be monitored as well have access to some hefty pain mess that should make his life a little easier.

He'll be in a room in the Simon Cancer Center which is nice because we've always found that oncology floors are amazing places filled with caring people who understand what we are enduring.

Love,
Liz