Hey Everyone,
Quick update on Eric. They’re still not 100% sure what EXACTLY is wrong, but we’re headed in the right direction. Eric honestly looks a TON healthier than he has the last week. They’re still taking blood samples, and doing tests. They think it may be something along the lines of RSV, which to someone with no immune system (babies, people who have gone through chemo) is pretty serious, to you or I, it would just be like a cold. They’re actually attributing the high fevers to him not having too many white blood cells, and the high heart rate is still a question but there’s a lot of theories popping around. His white blood cells are actually coming up pretty fast now and hopefully that will start to help his body fight whatever this is.
Mike and Megan came up yesterday to spend the day with Eric, and Lindsey and I went out to eat, got Eric some ice cream, and indulged in my newest guilty pleasure….Godiva. I’m lactose intolerant, and I recently found out their “shakes” don’t have milk in them. I had my first “shake” in about 4 years. Not to mention, their strawberries and cream, and orange cream candy bars are amazing. It was good for Linds and I to spend some quality time together.
When I got back Mike and Megan were doing a puzzle and Eric was getting a CT scan done. I waited in his room for him to get back. It was super cool to see Eric tell the nurse that he could get to it himself, get out of the wheelchair, walk in the room on his own, stand there for a couple seconds, and then walk into the bathroom. I know it sounds minor, but a couple days ago Eric had a hard time walking to the garbage can. I was overjoyed to see him walk that short distance. Him and Larry Hisle have a deal going, that when Larry shows up, Eric will get up and walk around the unit to get his exercise in, and try to get some of the fluid to not just settle in his lungs. Larry has been here once, if not twice, everyday to get him to walk. Larry Hisle, if you are reading this, you will never know how much you mean to us.
We also found out Eric has a blood clot in his right arm. It came from the picc line he had while he was in the hospital getting chemo. This is being taken care of, and the nurse didn’t seem too worried about it. Eric’s in the right place if something were to go wrong. His nurses are beyond amazing. His oncologist, Dr. Hari has been up as much as possible to check in. Dr. Hari says Eric’s on the right path, and we just need to take things one day at a time. Eric’s a fighter, he will make it through whatever life throws at him.
Eric told me he’s afraid of this bone marrow transplant that may be happening. For those of you who don’t know me, I have this fear of frogs. Since dating Eric I have met two others with this fear. Many people think it’s irrational. When putting it into this perspective it is irrational. I made a promise to Eric. WHEN he is in remission, after he conquers his fears of fighting this beast one more time, I Cari Lynn McLean, will hold a frog. To further prove to him how serious I am about this, today, for our one month anniversary, I bought him a frog figurine. The gift shop here is infested with frog things. A couple weeks ago, I couldn’t even look into the gift shop because even cartoon frogs give me the willie’s. (I never saw what Miss Piggy’s big deal with Kermit was, and Kermit and I were never buddies when I was little) On our wedding day, I saw a frog jump out from under my dress in the gardens we were at, had a panic attack, almost face planted because I was trying to escape the frog’s wrath, and Mike had to calm me down, and I told everyone pictures were done, we were getting back on the bus. (resulting in not a lot of pictures being taken in that garden.) I walked straight into that gift shop today, found a frog figurine, and bought it. The figurines actually in Eric’s room, and I swear he’s giving me the evil eye, but, it’s my baby step to holding a real frog. I thought Eric would think I was stupid for getting him a frog figurine, but it brought a smile to his face. He actually told me just now, “I honestly can’t believe you did that. I’m proud.”
One last thing. There is a blood drive in Two Rivers this Saturday. We are urging everyone in the area to go give blood. It doesn’t hurt, they give you free cookies at the end, and you can walk out of there knowing, you may have just saved somebody’s life. Here’s a link to the website where you can make appointments and find out if you are eligible. Lindsey will also be there helping sign people up for bone marrow donation kits.
https://web.bcw.edu/bcw/mobile_scheduler/bdc_schedule.php?did=112491