Chemo. Round 1. Day 1.(Friday, Dec. 7, 2012)

      We were up pretty early. Nurses and techs were in and out taking Eric's vitals and blood for daily lab tests. Luckily Boy Meets World was on to keep us entertained. lol I was able to help Eric take a shower this morning. It was time!
     It takes a little bit for the pharmacy to get the chemo drugs ready so the nurses do a few things in the mean time. They give him I.V. fluids for 2 hours which help his kidneys flush things out. While that was going the nurse had to access the port (CVAD) so that they could start an I.V. there too. He was a little nervous but did fine. They were pretty quick and it seemed painless. He got some medicine for nausea (a long lasting drug) and one for achiness. They sort of give him those because they don't want him to be uncomfortable later on after the chemo starts to work.
     Before Eric went to the Oncologist and stuff his dad Gayle went to Cuba with a humanitarian group. It was a hard decision for him to go but Eric encouraged him to. After finding out how serious things were with Eric, Gayle decided to come back early to be here in case Eric needed anything. They have enjoyed going on a few walks around the hospital floor together.
     It was very interesting when the nurses started chemo. Two nurses had to verify the patient and the drugs. The nurse administering the drugs had to suit up and put thick gloves on. For Eric's treatment he is going to have three chemo drugs: Cisplatin, Etoposide, and Bleomycin. The first two drugs he will have days 1-5 and the third he gets days 2, 9, and 16.
     Dr. Nibbly who is a partner of Dr. Chandramouli came by to share the results from the MRI done on Eric's brain. He said that it looked like the rest of his body. Small white dots everywhere. So the cancer has spread there too. We had a feeling it was because Eric had headaches and some confusion one night. Treatment wont change.
     I went home to see Miss Tayvia for a while, then took her to see Eric for a visit. I could tell that Eric liked seeing Tayvia. She likes to jump on his bed and look out the big window.

     Eric had lots of visitors which is fine. Probably best to keep visits short and sweet though (1 hour) Eric needs to make sure that he rests. All of the medicines sure wipe him out sometimes.
     Eric went on another good walk with Adam from work. I think this really helped Eric's spirits. Not that they were down but they joked around like they usually do at the office. Some guys from work also went in together on a game for the play station. This will be so nice for Eric to play with them to help pass time.
     Eric's brother Russ also stopped by. Russ got Eric some really great books. One was on nutrition. We have been told a few times to make sure that Eric is eating healthy so that book is great. Nutrition is something that Eric can control so we need to do our best. My mom busted him and confiscated the cheese wiz that he requested. Russ said that in the book it talks about not eating things that will out live you. So the cheese wiz had to go.
     We have had visits from our Bishop a few times that have been really good. Our Stake President also stopped by last night. We are touched that our names are on the temple prayer roll, and we feel the blessings of everyone's fasting and prayers. It really helps Eric and I to stay strong and keep our faith and hope going.