A Little Bad Followed by A Lot of Good Followed up By a Lot of Bad

So last week was the honorary hell week, and it lived up to it's title. B had chemo again on Tuesday. We met with the Dr. # 4 for the first time in several weeks. The meeting with Dr. # 4 actually went pretty good. He seemed pleased with how Ben looked and felt, so from an oncology stand point things were good. He also mentioned that the chest scan they did when Ben was in the ER for what they thought was a blood clot, showed that the lung tumor had remained unchanged. Dr. # 4 said those results could be interpreted as either good news or neutral news, but definitely not bad news. So I guess we both assumed we were off to a good start. Dr. # 4 decided to stay with the same chemo, but mentioned that it was again time to scan B's abdomen and pelvis to get a better read on where we are at with the cancer, and if the chemo is working. Can you say instant anxiety!!!! Just hearing those words made me throw up my stomach and swallow it again. I seriously can't begin to describe the nervous tension that comes along with a scan that lets you know how your cancer is doing.

Following our meeting with Dr. # 4, B went on to have Chemo, and by Tuesday night B seemed to be doing OK. They put him on a bunch of new meds to control the extreme nausea that he had during his last chemo, and these new drugs seemed to do their job. However one of the side effects of the new drugs was uncontrollable hiccups......and when I say uncontrollable, I mean uncontrollable. B had hiccups on Wednesday that lasted 8 hours. I get annoyed with hiccups after 8 minutes, but he had them for 8 HOURS STRAIGHT. And what makes matters worse is that the hiccups really aggravated his already sore left side. So Dr. # 4 called in a new med for the hiccups however this med messed B up. It was like he had 18 beers, and B says that he doesn't remember Wednesday night or all day Thursday. He was saying the damnest things. At one point he told me that he just had a dream about me, however in his dream I was Asian, and a man. I mean what do you say to that....thank you I guess?

And before you know it, it was Friday and we were scheduled to head to Detroit for a Tigers game, and a Wedding. And this was not just any Tigers game, this was the game that B and I, and the Lips were scheduled to go on the field and meet the players during batting practice. The saying come hell or high water says it all, and to Detroit we went. It was a terrible drive to the D and B was feeling like crap, but we made it. And we knew somehow we were going to make it go the game on Saturday.....weather permitting. By 2 o'clock on Saturday, B was feeling better so we packed up the car and headed down to Comerica Park, and the sun was shining. You can say B was like a kid in a candy shop....he was all smiles, grinning ear to ear. We were so close to the players, we got to meet with Magglio Ordonez, had many photo ops, and even got to see B's name on lights. B's name was on the scoreboard for almost 2 hours, oh and did I mention, Maggs signed B's jersey. Plus we had awesome seats, courtesy or our Aunt and Uncle, and Mrs. Lips almost took home a foul ball. I can't say enough how wonderful the day was.

Now onto Sunday.....B and I attended a Wedding of a close family friend. We both felt that it was important for us to be there, however B was not feeling to great. This wedding gave us an opportunity to see some of his family and friends that we haven't seen since B's diagnosis, and it gave us an opportunity to thank them personally for all their love and support. After such a long day at the Tigers game, B was pretty tired, so after a beautiful ceremony and lunch, B and I headed back home and we both crashed.....wrapping up the weekend and the lot of good.

And now comes Monday.....oh where do I start......loud sigh. Neither B or I got much sleep on Sunday night. B was extremely sore, and I had anxiety thinking about the upcoming scan. We both slept on again, off again all night long. And to add to the mix, our puppy got sick around 5 in the morning, so I was up taking care of her and cleaning up her mess. The alarm went off, and I was more than exhausted, however I got up and got in the shower, and was just about ready to head to work when I heard B. It was only 7:30 am and I could hear him upstairs walking around. I just had a feeling something was wrong, and when he finally came downstairs, I could tell by the look on his face, and the crack in his voice that something wasn't right. He was so uncomfortable, and he was having trouble lifting his head, or straightening his arms or legs. The best way I can describe it, was that B looked like and 80 year old man with osteoporosis walking around with a cane. I was scared, so I decided to call in a few hours late to work, and I placed a call to the cancer center. I got B situated in the basement and he assured me that he would be OK, however I felt like a bad wife leaving him alone, stuck in one position. So I left for work, but by 3 o'clock, B had already called me a few times, and I could just tell something was terribly wrong.

I immediately left work and headed home to find B just where I left him. He was in so much pain, that it was bringing tears to his eyes. So I again called the cancer center, and they decided that it would be best if I brought B to the hospital. B agreed to go, which should tell you how bad he was feeling. I mean, who wants to actually go to the hospital for a direct admit? And we have been here at the hospital ever since. B met with the oncology PA, as well as Dr. # 4, and an ortho spine surgeon. They have all ordered a bunch of tests, and we are anxiously awaiting the results. And we met with the a new Dr.....a pain specialist and I think he is our angel. He had some great, new approaches to managing B's pain, and I actually believe him. His plan it to get B back to normal...finally someone is listening to us and is addressing B's pain issues.

The good news is that the MRI of the neck shows no signs of cancer, however the bad news is that they don't know what is causing the neck pain.