still here

We are still here. Excuse my typing. My goofy body is not cooperating today and it's hard to press these little buttons on the phone.

Ray is doing well. They again went over all the side effects and warning signs, things to check and so on.

We anticipate Ray's hair to fall out or thin in the next two weeks if it is going to happen.

Here's how the big days go. He takes fluid for 1.5 hours, then he gets some anti-nausea medicine mixed with steroids. He then gets Drug1 for an hour or so. Then he gets more fluid. Then they give him Drug2 for 45 minutes or so. Then they give him lasiks to make him pee. He keeps laughing because giving a man with bladder cancer a drug to make him pee has Ray needing to pee again as he starts to sit from his last restroom visit. It really is crazy. We are half way through the final bag of fluids, which should take another hour to finish I think.

Ray experienced some pain in his arm from the second drug, and then he's needed to go to the restroom A LOT.

The steroids are supposed to make him sleep, then be wide awake, then crash again.

The chemo is supposed to give him a fever, make him nauseous (they have him on three anti-nausea meds.), make him extremely tired, give mouth sores, thin his hair, and make food taste horrible.

Lots to look forward to, but Ray has a good bedside nurse!!(Though sometimes he thinks I'm too doting.

The nurses here are really, really nice. I really like Carol. We found out well see her again in Salem at the end of February. That will be pleasant.

I'm so grateful to my dad for driving to Salem twice now so that I could be with Ray. He's been a life saver and kept me able to refrain from any sense of hysteria. Always good, right?

Soon we'll head out and snuggle Ray onto the couch for extra love.