Day +10: Ups and Downs

It's been a roller coaster ride for Sile today.  At one point this afternoon she was sufficiently less miserable to crack a small, wan smile.  More on that later.  Also in the "good news" category were her blood counts.  Both her white blood cell count and her platelet count increased by amounts -- as Dr. Nakamura said yesterday, "trending in the right direction."  During the afternoon the nausea abated to the point that she could take a few pills with tiny sips of water and actually keep them down.  Since some of the drugs she needs to take are administered only orally, this is a significant step.

That was the high point of the day.  The low point, only 5 hours later (thus the roller coaster analogy), was when the nausea, diarrhea, and pain returned with a vengeance.  Drugs which seemed to provide very speedy relief during the first part of the day were achingly slow to take effect this evening.  Finally, finally, 3 hours after taking a nosedive into a pit of misery, Sile is resting.  More drugs are on order for an hour or two from now and hopefully they will help her get through the night.

There were two things that caused that tiny smile this afternoon.  One was when the afternoon mail arrived and there were cards from 3 of you, sending your thoughts and prayers and news and gentle humor.  The other smile inducer was receipt of the daily Una-gram.

Now I know you can't all be as cute as Una, but your cards and emails also help cheer Sile enormously.  Keep 'em coming!  Some day in the not too distant future she will be able to respond personally and express her thanks.

I return home tomorrow so that I can resume jury service on Monday in the Trial of the Century (3 months and counting).  Ralph will be here, supporting Sile, for the whole week.  By the end of the week we are really, really hoping Sile will be over the worst.  Sookie, Sile's nurse this morning, looked at the white board in the room and said, "Hmm.  Day 10.  Four days to go."  Apparently, in her experience, the worst period for the patient is the first 2 weeks.  Most people begin to feel a little better about then.  As my Jewish friends would say, "From her lips to God's ears!"