Round 3, Day 5

We awoke to find that the lion that was supposed to be last night's big snow storm turned out to be nothing but a malnourished alley cat. Here's the extent of the precip we got at the Ronald McDonald House. When Raul Matthew and I arrived at the hospital room this morning, I noticed immediately that Myla looked oddly different from the way she looked just the night before. I told Melissa, "Myla looks drugged--the same way she looked when she was under anesthesia for the bone marrow procedure." Melissa had made the same exact observation earlier in speaking with the nurses. This picture really didn't capture it, but there was something different in Myla's eyes. Her ANC is actually on rise--it's over 2,000 now, but her hemoglobin had fallen slightly from the 8.7 yesterday to 8.5 this morning. Her responses were slow, and she looked pale, so after some discussion with members of the medical team, a blood transfusion was ordered.

Now that the infusion is complete, her color has returned, but she still isn't acting her normal happy self. We're thinking that this is just the effects of the heavy chemo finally kicking in. We've just got two more hours of chemo tonight (8:30 - 10:30) and one more hour in the morning at 8:30.

To keep us entertained, we are watching part 3 of the PBS series, Tubapalooza. You can find the following description online: "U.S. Congressman (D-OH) and accomplished tubist, Dennis Kucinich, tours the exiting world of tuba music with stops in Moscow, Sydney, and Amsterdam before performing a repertoire of patriotic tuba solos at the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra Hall. A 20-year member of the Power to the People Brass Band, Kucinich brings the tuba to life in this critically-acclaimed series that explores the history and social impact of tuba music across a diversity of cultures. This foray into the exotic world of the concert tuba is brought to you by a generous grant from the John D. & Bubbles T. MacArthur Foundation." Tubas really aren't my thing, but the series has been fairly interesting so far. I'm glad they make programs like this for viewers like me.