Day 16

This morning, Melissa and I attended the first of an experimental meeting held in the cancer center at Riley. Each day, the medical staff meets to discuss each patient's status. In the past, these meetings have been closed door, but now, the staff has invited parents to the part of the meeting in which their child's case is discussed. Pretty cool if you ask me. And to top it off, we took Myla to the meeting! We were only there for a few minutes to hear a basic update on the metrics of things like Myla's overnight stool output, but it was nice being invited. These meetings are held each morning, so we'll see how long families are invited to attend.

Myla is doing well considering the circumstances, but there are signs that she is sensing pain from what might be the onset of mucositus, a common side effect of chemotherapy. She has been fussier than usual, and she continues to look as if she is not feeling well. We could put her on morphine, and likely will eventually, but the medical staff also agrees with Melissa's decision not to rush into pumping Myla full of pain killers at the first signs of discomfort.

Raul Matthew and I returned to Kokomo where we ran around town doing fun things like paying bills and shopping. And on the way back from picking up some ingredients for dishes I plan to make next week, I made the very impulsive decision to stop into the birthing center at the Howard Regional Medical Center to pass on the address to this blog to the nurses who helped bring Myla into the world. In the parking lot as we were leaving, I said to Raul Matthew, "That was a very impromptu activity." Then I had to explain what impromptu was, but I couldn't help but wonder if someone there needed the update on Myla's condition at this time. Either way, it felt interesting to be back on the second floor where Myla was born. How exactly did it feel interesting? I'm not really sure. It just seemed so familiar, and yet so far removed from our present lives.

Thanks to the Byroms for the Bob Evans gift card. We ate there tonight in K-town--another impromptu decision. I learned tonight that the restaurant will soon be rolling out not just a new line of coffee, but larger coffee mugs to for serving this more toxic brew. This change is in addition to the new tea baskets you can order so that you can make a variety of teas at your table. All I know is that old man Evans dies, and the restaurant starts changing the recipe for success. Before you know it, the place that used to be "down on the farm" will be serving uptown offerings like sushi and fois gras.