Day Eleven: One More Sunset

Holy crap it's already our last night here at Oasis. We are so ready to come home! I miss our kids, our bed, our house, our mountains and mashed potatoes. I can't wait to get back to all of these things and return to the routine of home. We're not done yet though, Krissy still has a very busy morning of treatments before we can leave. She'll be up at six a.m. tomorrow for two cycles of vitamin C and vitamin K. After she completes these we pack up and leave for the airport at 11:00. Yay!

Despite a busy day of therapies, we really didn't do a whole lot today. Kris was able to do her ozone therapy normally and her veins held up (thank you God) and then we holed up in the room while she sat through the last round of Perftec and more vitamin C. I caught up on episodes of Dexter during my downtime and Krissy watched Big Bang Theory with Spanish subtitles. I know, it was the pinnacle of excitement.

Due to the fact that I rambled at such great lengths about nutrition yesterday, I didn't get a chance to introduce two more acquaintances we made this week. First up is Omar and his mother Eva. He's here cleaning up the ravages of stage four colon cancer and is tired of putting up with chemo. Omar has actually done very well with chemo treatments but has had several lymph nodes turn up as suspicious and he's no longer responding to the drugs. His doctors want to step him up to the next level of toxicity to kill it off but he's made the decision to end chemo treatment and has come here to Oasis instead. He's a great guy, a lot of fun to talk with, and if you saw him on the street you'd never know what he's been through. He also owns an apparel company in California that produces athletic wear for city, high school and college teams.

I also didn't get a chance to talk about Lee, who is directly across the hall from us. Out of everyone we've met here, he probably has the most challenges to deal with and has had a long hard battle with his cancer. He has had melanoma for ten years and has been in and out of treatments for nearly that entire time. His last attempt to fight the cancer proved to be the most difficult and draining so far, and has left him in a very debilitated state. The therapy was experimental and from what he could tell me, entailed reducing his immune system to a near zero response then cloning his killer T cells and infusing them back to help kickstart the cancer fighting in his body. The risk was that he had nearly no immune system remaining to protect his body and his cancer actually became much worse after the treatment ended. It has now metastasized to his brain, stomach, lymph nodes and several external skin lesions. He is retaining massive amounts of fluid and had to have it drained, and is now too weak and nauseated to get around on his own. As such, he's been limited to spending all of his time in bed and is starving for some human interaction. We managed to pop into his room yesterday for a quick chat, and tonight we arranged to bring him downstairs for the sing-a-long with Bruce and Vicky. It was tough for him but he was able to enjoy some time out of the room with the rest of us. Afterward I spent about an hour and a half talking in his room and trying to wrap my head around everything he's gone through. I've come away with even more appreciation for the healing process here at Oasis and call for prayer to progress his recovery even faster. If anyone in this hospital needs the extra faith and support, it's Lee. God bless you brother.

On a lighter note, I was informed at lunch that since Krissy will have a new companion for her next trip Sharon would be voting her sister off the island and bringing me as her companion instead. Apparently I've done an adequate job helping Krissy during her stay and Sharon wishes to contract my services for her next visit to Mexico. I have no idea if I'll be getting a day rate or just room and board for this. I'm also not sure if Jenny is hurt or relieved by this turn of events. Of course, this was all just a big joke and another example of how our lunchtime conversations quickly spiral into the ridiculous. I'm going to miss laughing and hanging out with our Aussie friends.

Since this is probably my last night at Oasis, I joined Sharon, Jenny, Omar, Marilyn and Joy on a trip down to a little coffee shop on the beach to watch the sunset. Krissy's vitamin C treatments left her feeling pretty icky so she decided to rest in the room. The girls have found a nice place called Lat 32 for coffee and great views of the ocean. I ordered a hot chocolate and we all talked and watched another gorgeous sunset. It's amazing how fast the sun sinks below the horizon, almost like it's being swallowed by the ocean right before our eyes. Whether I come back or not, I'm grateful to have experienced as much as I have here at Oasis with our new friends.

I mentioned the sing-a-long earlier, and this was the final highlight of the evening. I think nearly everyone who was able joined Bruce and Vicky for some lighthearted singing in the cafeteria. Bruce even donned a bandanna and ponytails for a fantastic Willy Nelson impression. Let me tell you, that guy can belt out the tunes. Vicky is no slouch on the guitar either!

It's pretty late and I think this is the end of a fulfilling final day for me. While we will be going home tomorrow, this is far from the end of road for Krissy's healing and in some respects is really just the beginning of her journey. She'll be back on February 7th for her next six day stint. She has four weeks of dietary and nutraceutical support between now and then to continue her healing and we're praying for drastic reductions in her cancer by then. We've been told to expect very positive results from these therapies and I believe they are right. Krissy is an ass kicker and I fully expect her to kick the ass of this cancer until it's ass is completely gone. Until then we'll keep praying and healing, day by day. Now we just cross our fingers we don't get held up at the border before our flight! G'night!