Tuesday 10-17-2006

We were up fairly early as Eva's parents had a little trouble sleeping with the AC on (I think of it as background noise, apparently it is like a jet engine to them). We had a nice little breakfast at the apartment and then Eva and her parents were off to take care of a few things. Eva was scheduled to have her biometrics taken for the green card (fingerprints, photo, etc.). The appointment letter was a little unsettling as it stated "If you miss this appointment your application for permanent residency will be considered abandoned." Eva made sure she was about 45 minutes early but when she got there they could not take her palm prints because she had small blister on her hand. I could not believe it. She has to go back when her hand heals. Luckily, her application seems to be moving along. After the biometrics fiasco, they were off to order the pig which was something of a cultural adventure of its own.

My parents came up to take me to my infusion and also brought my new toy (a palm pilot). The infusion went pretty well as I just got a bag of hydration and the Cisplatin. Sven stopped by and we had a nice little chat. He reassured me that my leg was probably nothing to worry about and that it would just resolve in time. Even if the clot did move, the size of the clot in my leg probably would not be big enough to cause any major damage. Besides the treatment for if it did move to my lungs, would be to put me onto blood thinners, which I am already on. Apparently, the really worrisome clots are much bigger/longer. It was just really good to talk to him a bit. He is always such a good resource and has really been wonderful throughout this whole ordeal.

My parents and I made our way back to the apartment and I rested for a little while. I felt pretty good so we ended up all going out to dinner at Le Petit Bistro, a nice little French restaurant. I do not know why, but ever since the spinach ecoli scare, my father always seems to be drawn to the dishes that contain spinach. He also seems to be amused when each waiter has to explain that they are not serving that right now. The company was wonderful, the meal was tasty, and I was pretty pleased with how well I did post-infusion. I was basically a big blob at the restaurant and later that evening as I was just super hydrated and bloated but generally felt pretty good. I tipped the scales at 185 that night and was a little worried as I could not get my wedding ring over my fat swollen fingers (I guess I should just always have it on). I am thinking that I have accomplished what I set out to do weight-wise, and I should really be transitioning back to healthy food while trying to keep the calorie count pretty high.

I just took this picture because I am always amazed at how many pills I am on right now. 3 Xeloda, 2 prednisone, 2 zantac, and 2 advil. Add 2 doses of Lovenox in syringe form and that just about rounds out my day. I used to hesitate to take an advil. Look at me now. Keep in mind, that these are just the baseline for the day. If I have any pain, nausea, or diarrhea, I take pills for that, too.

On their way back from the biometrics/pig trip, Eva and her parents had lunch at Alpine village and picked up a slice of a few different types of cakes. It is about 3 days before the wedding so we thought we had better start evaluating our cake options. It was a fun little time as each of us sampled the different cakes and decided which ones we like the best. Eva and I really are meant for each other as our first two choices were identical.

-TN