Christmas Update...

Things have been kind of hectic around here lately and I've found myself with little online time to either post or read blogs.  Keith was here from Austin for Christmas and left on December 29th.  That was also the day that Reid had numerous appointments down at MD Anderson for the latest round of tests, scans, X-rays, etc.  We left the house a little before 8 in the morning and didn't get home until after 6:30 in the evening.  It was also my birthday and the best present I could hope to receive is for Reid's scans to all look good.

As anticipated Reid came home from the hospital on Christmas Eve.  A change in nausea medication seemed to have helped with this round of chemo.  He was able to eat a little and the only problem he had was with the constant fatigue which is to be expected.

On Christmas Day Reid had a 12:30 appointment for the Neulasta injection which is always given 24 hours after chemo.  Keith, Troy, and I took Reid down for that while Jim stayed home.  On Christmas Eve Jim came down with a cold, so we immediately began treating him like Typhoid Mary with everyone avoiding him like the plague.  With Reid's blood counts down after chemo he's very vulnerable to infection, but so far no one else has come down with Jim's cold.

We gave Reid the option of waiting to celebrate Christmas at a later date when he would be feeling better, but he did not want anyone else to have to wait.  There are no small children involved and everyone else was very agreeable to waiting, but Reid wanted to go ahead and celebrate Christmas on Christmas Day.  So, that is what we did after we got back from the hospital.

This is Jim (AKA Typhoid Mary) on the far side of the room opening one of his presents.  He was a good sport and wore that mask up until yesterday.  Meanwhile, I followed him around with disinfectants and hand sanitizer.

This is Reid opening one of his presents.

It was really something for him and his cat Ash, but Zoom decided to check it out first.  It's a remote control spider.

Troy was Christmas Boy this year.  It's a yearly tradition in our family and the person chosen as Christmas Boy hands out the packages.  He was supposed to be wearing the Christmas Boy hat, but we all forgot so he got away without wearing it this year.  This is Troy opening one of his packages.
                                  

Jim and Keith always complain about me keeping the house too cold in the winter.  They've lived in Texas too long and no longer remember the colder climates we've lived in, so anytime the temperature outside dips below 65 degrees they complain they're cold.  I bought them heavy bathrobes.

Here's Keith wearing his new robe while opening a gift.

Troy also got a new robe.  Reid didn't because he already has one.  Here's a picture of Jim wearing his new robe with Zoom hanging on.

As is usually the case, there are no pictures of me.  I'm the official family photographer.

I had bought some stuffed pork chops for Christmas dinner and took them out to thaw in the morning.  I didn't want to leave them out while we were down at the hospital, so I stuck them back in the refrigerator and took them out again when we got home.  They were still partially frozen when I put them in the oven so I added on some additional cooking time.  When we cut into them we could still see pink.  I put them back in the oven again for some additional time, but they still didn't look done.  Finally, I decided not to take a chance and threw them out.  Reid's food is suppose to be thoroughly cooked and since none of us could decide if they were cooked enough we couldn't take a chance.  It's was OK...we didn't really miss them.  We had enough other stuff to satisfy our hunger.

We had a nice day.  Even though the tree was put up at the last minute and I had one day to shop everything seemed to fall in place.  Considering what we're dealing with right now things went very well.

Tomorrow Reid has a 7:30 AM appointment at MD Anderson for a blood draw.  His platelets were down on the 29th and will probably be down even more by tomorrow so they need to check.  He'll probably need a platelet transfusion, but that's to be expected with this round of chemo.  Jim is well now, so he'll take him down this time.  I'm going to try and stay up to watch the ball drop in Times Square.  Fortunately, we're on Central Time so the ball drops at 11 here.

Next week will be a busy week with Reid having appointments at MD Anderson on January 3rd, 4th, and 5th.  He'll be seeing both the Stem Cell Transplant doctor and his Oncologist.  I'm hoping and praying that those scans look good.  I'll post updates as time allows, but I'm usually too tired in the evening to get online.

I have a few more pictures of Reid's cat Ash to share.  He keeps us all laughing.

This is Ash pretending to be a turtle.  That's actually a cat bed turned upside down.

And here he is hiding under the Christmas tree.
                                      

But Mikey found him!
                                      

Sometimes life becomes overwhelming for Ash and he decides to give himself a time out.

I wish everyone a safe and healthy 2011!  HAPPY NEW YEAR!