Day Seventeen: Downgrade to DEFCON 3

What a difference a day makes. I admit to feeling pretty down when I heard the news from Krissy yesterday. I'm not sure if it's because I'm too close to the situation or if I'm a worry wort, but kneejerk reactions to any kind of change in Krissy's condition seem to be the norm for me lately. I'm still not pleased with the test results but I had to stop and question, what did they really mean? I'm not a doctor, and even if I played one on TV, slight changes in her condition one direction or the other may be perfectly normal. And after reading Cesa's update tonight it seems that this is the case, we just have to give these processes time and understand that "improvement" will be measured in the long term. So for myself, I just resolve to keep my head down, support Krissy every day in her battle, and trust that prayers and determination will see us through. As Camryn so wisely stated to me at dinner last night, while working so hard to shovel slippery spaghetti noodles into her mouth and dumping most of it in my lap, "Be patient Daddy!" Ok, attitude adjustment completed, now it's time for Words de Cesa!

I guess all that praying last night really wore us out, or maybe it was that no one was riding the elevator all night, either way, we got a really good night's sleep and slept in this morning for the first time since we got here. Breakfast today, for lack of better words, was awful! Their attempt at french toast was a failure at best, but we understand the effort and the reason why the food is the way that it is here. Krissy and I kind of picked at our food before deciding that what we really wanted most was coffee. We ate some fruit and then went to Starbucks. We got to come back and enjoy our coffee in the courtyard because of the beautiful weather again and then came up to see if Dr. Lagos was making rounds again.

Dr. Lagos came in and told Krissy, with a smile on his face and his hand on hers, that the protocol will not change. He said after meeting with the other doctors this morning they decided that all will remain the same. I asked him why the tumor would have grown a little and he came and sat next to me and said, "the growth is not much, almost the same as last time, with a slight (as he pinched his fingers together) difference." He said they felt that the pain in my sister's side was not related to the cancer and that she can keep on doing everything she's been doing. Their bedside manner is so different from any of the doctors that I'm used to. I only met him for a brief minute on Monday and as I pass by him in the halls, he always says, "Hola, Francesca". So his words of advice to Kris before he left, keep up the healthy lifestyle, exercising and eating right and he told her he expects good things. Also, while she was visiting in Dorian's (patient coordinator) office, Dr. Cesenias, the head oncologist, told Krissy that he wasn't worried about her and that it typically takes 3 lymphocyte treatments before they really start analyzing the effectiveness of the treatment and ended with "and you'll be fine". Crisis averted!

What good news that was for both of us....I think we got a surge of adrenaline and didn't know who to call first. She did the immune therapy today, or as Frankie and her will call it, "corn therapy". LOL...this is the lymphocyte transfusion that causes her to smell like corn. At first I didn't notice a difference in the smell, but it definitely kicked in later. If you ask who your lymphocyte donor is, the hospital will tell you and then you can meet them and thank them. Her donor for today's transfusion was Isaac. So today was a themed lunch, carribean to be exact, and on the themed lunch days, the staff is invited to come and join the patients and their companions to eat and get to know them. Isaac, ironically, came and asked if he could sit with us. He is the main hospital coordinator here and as he sat down, Krissy told him thank you for being her donor. He said he was honored and felt it was not coincidence that he picked us to sit with. While we were eating, we met our neighbors Karen and Jim. They're from Grand Rapids, MI, a city we're familiar with, and Karen is battling ovarian cancer. After 6 cycles of chemo, she decided no more chemo, so here she is. We also briefly met Earl and Beth from Ontario, Canada. Not sure what the type of cancer is because Earl had a treatment to get to, so they just had time to introduce themselves. I have to admit, today's lunch was probably the best yet, not because of the food, but the company and the 2 hour conversation we had with them.

The rest of the afternoon we spent relaxing in the room watching Ellen (Krissy) and me reading my book. After Ellen we walked down to the pharmacy for Kris to get one of her prescriptions and then over to El Yogurt to get me a frozen yogurt. At dinner, I noticed there were several new faces. Some people have left or are leaving tomorrow and new ones are coming in. I did happen to notice that a gentleman, whose wife had been taking her meal trays to their room, is now eating with his wife in the cafeteria. I take that as a good sign and he looks to be doing good. No service tonight, which we were kind of bummed about, but we'll just say our prayers in silence before turning in for the night. Tomorrow is movie night, they prepare air popped popcorn with olive oil and veggie salt, but we're thinking we'll skip out on the movie and just snag some popcorn and return to our room to watch the Olympic opening ceremonies. Can't believe just a couple days left here for us. The week started off slow, but has picked up momentum. I'm getting anxious, Krissy also, to get home and see our families. Thank goodness for Skype and facebook, but it doesn't compare to being in their presence or any of you for that matter! God Bless!