Meet Buster: My Big, Fat Tumor

I would say this has been the longest, hardest week of my life, and in it… I see HOPE all over the place.  The doctors treating Morgan, the nurses caring for him, the results from tests, progress, our family growing even closer, and an unexplainable peace…

Mom slept at the hospital last-night.  She said he was up about midnight with a big mess in the bed, she was able to help him.  At two he received his last dose of chemo for this round.  She requested oxygen for him, we had read that oxygen helps kill cancer,  and it seemed to help with his breathing and sleeping.

The kidney specialist was in this morning to report his creatinine went down again to 1.4 (1.0- 1.2 is normal).   This is great news!!   Morgan was able to eat oatmeal and a banana for breakfast.  He wants to fight this cancer on all levels.  Chemo, nutrition, supplements, holistic, counseling…  so we are  doing research to help make it happen.  He has an appointment with a nutritionist next week, until then he has changed his diet to exclude all caffeine, red meat, sugar (these are all said to feed cancer cells) and is trying to take in wise calories and nutrient rich foods.

Dr. L was in this evening, he is the next Dr. on rotation from Dr. I’s office.  He is pleased with how Morgan is doing, we can’t wait to hear more detailed test results.    We are learning more about Dr. I and his associates, lots of great things come out of that practice.  It turns out Dr. I was a huge part of getting City of Hope doctors here to Arizona.  He and his staff are all highly regarded at the hospital and several of the nurses have said they have treated their own family members.  All of this news is comforting to Kasha and the rest of us.    The nurses have been unbelievable.  We get a lot of smiles from the nurse staff.  I think Morgan is one of the only patients this week to have a constant flow of visitors.  We have hung posters, pictures and decorated with balloons and flowers.  It’s cheery in his room and we love to interact with the staff.  It’s just good to remind them he is cherished family.  Morgan is just such a lovable guy anyway.

Tonight the girls and I went to see Uncle Morgan and Auntie Kasha.  I was hoping to be able to visit with him some.  He was awake for most of the short visit and in good spirits.   We got to meet Dr. L briefly and heard that he is done with this round of chemo and will get a booster shot (white blood cells).  I am not sure as to what is after that, maybe monitoring and a plan to send home…. ?

I am ready to help him start making some plans to look forward to, after all, he and Kasha  haven’t honeymooned yet.      We are all committed to helping him on this journey, and I don’t think it’s just me that looks at LIFE and this world differently after the last couple weeks.  I think we have all had some realizations and are ready to get to LIVING healthier lives, which of course means something different to each of us.

Until tomorrow…    : )