Home Alone Part 2

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Rachel is still in Dallas so I'm home alone with the boys..again.

Last night Evan was up until midnight. No, he wasn't fighting with me. I let him stay up for the Steelers game because I didn't want to fight that. Then I let him stay in my bed. It had worked well the night before and I'm honestly tired of the fighting. I let him know it was a special treat while Rachel is gone. By the time we got upstairs and I showered and got ready for bed it was midnight. Of course he didn't sleep while that was going on, he forced himself to stay awake until I got into bed.

This morning, though, he slept through my alarm and getting dressed. Gabby came at 7:30 and he was still asleep. I don't know what time he eventually got up.

When I got home at 5:15, Blanca said both boys had been sleeping for a long time. She said Noah was cranky and didn't eat much lunch but went down for a nap easily. He was making noises when I got in. Evan also slept a long time and I had to go in and wake him up.

I made dinner for us. I gave Evan leftover pizza because he asked for it. I heated up a hamburger I had made last week for me. For Noah, I heated up leftover pasta and hot dog. It took the boys a really long time to eat. I don't know why they were eating so slowly. I had wanted to eat early so we could go to HEB, but it took them almost an hour and a half (more Evan than Noah).

Finally after dinner, we went across the street to look at the Christmas lights at Blanca's house. They have a train there that Evan loves. He remembered it from last year. We saw Blanca out there. Then we went to HEB.

The boys were well-behaved there and Evan even spontaneously gave Noah a kiss on the cheek. He asked for a kiss back but Noah did not comply.

The boys are in bed now. Evan is in my room and I put on an episode of Superman for him. He's not fighting me now. I know I'm just delaying the inevitable fight when Rachel gets home on Wednesday.

Until next time...

Sleep…. Finally

We had a nice Thanksgiving. I hope you all had a great one as well.

I’m still in Dallas. Morry, the boys, and Lizzy went back to Austin yesterday. I’ll be flying home Wednesday.

I’m feeling a lot better. Last weekend was rough. Saturday was the worst. I was so achy I could hardly move. Sunday we shaved my head. It was both a physically and emotionally hard weekend.

Each day this week I started feeling better and better. I was able to eat some of the Thanksgiving dinner and enjoy Morry’s famous chocolate pie (cool whip and pudding).

Wednesday I had an appointment with my plastic surgeon. I had planned on getting expansions at that visit, but since I was on antibiotics and had a low grade fever earlier in the week he didn’t want to take any chances with infection. Everything looked good and the doctor was pleased with my progress. He asked how my skin was doing. I said great except the itchy scalp. The nurse suggested I shave my head completely bald. She said a lot of patients get relief once they do that.

My mom made an appointment for me with her stylist to get my hair shaved. When I got there he said he wasn’t licensed to shave, but could use the smallest clipper setting. It helped but I still wasn’t completely itch- free.

Later that night my dad shaved my head for me with his electric razor. I’m sure he never planned on ever needing to do that. Anyway, I’m feeling a lot better now.

Since Morry and the boys went home yesterday, we had a quiet relaxing evening, though I do miss having them around. I went to bed at 10:30 last night and slept until about 10:30 this morning. I can’t tell you the last time I was able to do that. I feel so much better today. I hardly have any nausea today and was able to eat a good brunch (my dad’s famous omelets).

Morry’s dad, Jack was here for Thanksgiving. Michael and Jen are still here and leave tomorrow. It’s been great hanging out with all of them. Evan and Noah really enjoyed playing with Zayde, and Uncle Mike and Aunt Jen.

Well, I hope I continue to feel better. My next chemo is scheduled for 12/10.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and weekend.

I just posted a video update with most of this info and a little more on YouTube here.

Bedtime

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

I have been promising Evan I'd see him in the mornings. I thought that perhaps he's worried about not seeing me so I told him he didn't need to come out of bed because I'd see him in the morning. He didn't get up when I was getting ready. Before I left I went in his room to say goodbye, but he continued to sleep. Rachel said he didn't get up until close to 8am. That is good because he didn't go to bed until 11 last night.

Gabby came over this morning and got the boys breakfast. Rachel came downstairs and everyone went outside. Rachel and Evan picked one bell pepper that we had growing in our backyard. They then picked several jalapeno peppers as well. Gabby was holding Noah while Rachel and Evan were picking the peppers (not a peck of pickled peppers, mind you).

Blanca came over and Rachel went out to HEB and got a few things that we needed. When she got home around 1:30, they put the boys to bed. Rachel ate lunch and took a nap herself.

I got home around 5:30 and shortly thereafter, Bodar came and delivered dinner. It was pork meatballs (no sauce) with roasted potatoes, fresh bread and a salad. She also brought over pumpkin cookies. Everything was very good.

The boys played some after dinner and then we put the boys down to bed. We decided to stay upstairs and watch TV upstairs thinking that perhaps Evan was scared that we were downstairs and he was upstairs. One of the moms from the mom's group read this blog and suggested that might be the issue. He came out of his room once, but hasn't come out since. I don't know if being up here with him helped or my warning him about coming out of the room and that I would start taking toys. Hopefully he stays in bed. If these things don't work, we may stop the naps with him so he'll be tired at bedtime.

Until next time...

Much Better

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

When we last left you yesterday, Evan had been up when I got home from the UT game at 11:15pm. He finally went to sleep around 11:30 or so. At 7am he got up. I do not know what to do to get him to stay in bed and sleep.

I got him breakfast and then he let me sleep until around 9. Then he kept coming in and out of the room. I brought the boys downstairs at 10am and got breakfast for Noah and some more food for Evan

For lunch I made spaghetti. I had heard that people on chemo like bland carbs, and I love pasta with butter, as do the boys. Rachel said she was feeling much better than yesterday and came downstairs and ate spaghetti.

Aunt Susan came over and took care of the boys while I watched a team that tries to pass themselves off as the Pittsburgh Steelers. I think it's just look-a-likes though. She was a big help and picked up Noah's shoe on the way over.

Rachel was downstairs most of the afternoon. She looks much better today than she did yesterday. However, her hair was really starting to fall out. So after the boys naps, we went outside in the backyard and I took the clippers to her hair to buzz what was left of her hair. She really looks good though.

For dinner, I went to Luby's and picked up food for us. We had a gift certificate.

We put the boys down for bed. Evan hasn't come out of the room yet, but I figure it's just a matter of time at this point.

Texas vs Kansas

Hello everyone,this is Morry.

Despite finally going to sleep after 11pm last night, Evan got up at 7am this morning. After holding him off for a bit, I got him breakfast and set him up in the game room with a movie.

Around 9:30 or so, Evan, Noah and I came downstairs. I cleaned up, started the laundry and made breakfast. Rachel stayed in bed as she was not feeling well today. She's very nauseous and wiped out.

For lunch I thought I'd take the boys to McDonald's. I know the generally behave very well there and it's a treat for them. The boys were very excited to go, but when we got there, Noah was not behaved very well. He didn't sit still in the booth, he didn't eat that much and at the end he threw a fit. Getting him the car was really difficult. He even kicked off his shoe and I didn't notice. McDonald's found the shoe and is holding it for us. I have to go pick it up tomorrow. Evan was very good and ate his nuggets, apples and cookies as well as Noah's nuggets.

When we came home I let the boys play for a bit and then put them down for naps. Noah didn't fall asleep for about an hour and a half. Evan went to sleep without any problems.

Rachel's Uncle Jay and Aunt Diane came over in the late afternoon to help with boys. I went to the Texas vs Kansas came so they took care of the boys while I was gone. They got dinner ready for the boys, ran to HEB and picked up some things for us, and gave the boys a bath. It was really appreciated.

I got home around 11:15 and Evan was still up. He is really being difficult going to bed. We've tried everything with him. If anyone has any suggestions about how to put him to bed and keep him in his room, I'd appreciate it.

Until next time...

Neulasta Shot

This morning Kevin and Yenis came over for a few minutes before I needed to leave to the doctor. We gave Kevin his birthday present since we couldn’t make it to his party last weekend.

I started feeling a little achy and nauseous today. It’s not real bad, but I feel like it will be getting worse the next few days.

I had a 1pm doctor’s appointment to get my Neulasta shot. Alena, from the mom’s group, offered to take care of the boys during my appointment, so I dropped them off at her house around 12:15. She has two boys and is a certified home child care provider.

I got to the doctor at 1pm, but they didn’t call me in until 2pm. They were very backed up. It was raining today, so maybe others before me were delayed because of the rain? I got the shot. They said I will most likely have some bone pain from it, just not sure when. Some people get the worst of it around 7 days after their chemo when their white blood cell count is the lowest. We’ll see what happens.

After getting the shot I picked Evan and Noah up from Alena’s. They were coloring with markers when I got there. It seemed like they had a good time.

At home, I put the boys down for naps and we all slept.

When Morry got home we ordered some food from Blue Bamboo and he went to pick it up.

We just put Evan and Noah to bed. Evan is sitting on the stairs now making up excuses about why he’s not going to sleep.

Chemo #2

Gabby came at 7:30 this morning.

This morning we got to Texas Oncology around 8:30am. Morry dropped me off and went to pick up breakfast for him and movie for me. When he got back I was in an exam room. They were taking my vitas and doing a blood test. Everything came back normal, so I was able to have the chemo today.

By the time I was set up in the treatment room and they started the medicines (steroids, anti nausea, chemo) it was about 10am. This time it went a lot faster. They didn’t have to go as slowly since they knew I wasn’t allergic to any of the drugs. We had planned on having Morry run out and get lunch. Around 12 they said I only had an hour left so we waited to go to lunch after. The chemo finished at 1pm. I need to go back tomorrow at 1pm to get the Nuelasta shot. The doctor said this should help the sores in my mouth. She thinks I got them because my white blood count was so low last time. She also prescribed more medication to help with the nausea.

For lunch Morry and I went to Triumph Café (Vietnamese). It was good. We were both pretty hungry.

When we got home Noah was in bed and Blanca was getting Evan ready for a nap. I took a nap too. I wasn’t feeling bad, but I was really tired from all the medication they had given me.

For dinner, one of the moms brought dinner for us. We had chicken soup.

After dinner we all went over to HEB. I needed to pick up some medicine and a mouth guard. I’ve been grinding my teeth at night and the dentist recommended I pick up one of those to use temporarily.

We put the boys to bed, but Evan is still up stalling.

Noah to the Doctor

Last night Noah was coughing a lot, so we made a doctor’s appointment for him. Morry took him to the doctor at 1:00. We thought it was best for me not to go to the clinic where there would be a bunch of sick kids. Noah just has a virus, probably the same one Evan and I had. They tested him for the flu and it came back negative.

While Morry and Noah were gone I took a walk with Evan.

Once Morry got back with Noah, I put the boys down for naps. They both slept well and I was able to nap a little too.

One of the mom’s club moms brought dinner for us tonight. This has been really nice to having to make dinner.

After dinner I tutored. One of my students who I normally meet at the library came to our house for tutoring. Morry and the boys played upstairs while I tutored.

Evan and Noah just got baths and are in bed now. Evan is still up, but I think Noah is sleeping.

Morry Takes Evan to School

This morning Morry helped me out by getting Evan ready for school. Morry worked from home this morning and then took Evan to school.

We did not have any babysitters here today. It was just Noah and me this morning and then Evan as well for the afternoon.

Noah and I just stayed at home this morning. I was going to take a walk, but it was pretty cold outside.

Evan came home from school around 1:30.

I put the boys down for naps about 2:00. They both slept really well.

When Morry got home we got dinner ready. We had Asian pasta and the boys had chicken nuggets.

We are about to put the boys to bed. They are supposed to be cleaning up their toys right now. They are both fighting over the Woody doll.