Lots of visitors

Hi everyone:

In spite of the not-so-great news from Friday, our home has been a bustling place these past couple of days. Neil, Kathleen, Don, Jim and Trish have all been with us at one point or another, and several others (Cindy, Sue, Dave, Mom, Dad, etc.) have been in touch by phone. On Friday night, a group of us visited first at our house, then at Kickers, and then back at our house. Although we talked about the PRA results in general terms, we spent most of the first night of our weekend just being light and fun.

The kids are camping with Steve. Almost as soon as they arrived at the campground, Connor sustained yet another minor injury, which seems to be his wont these days. Alec, a neighbor and friend of Connor, tagged along for the trip. Much of the rest of Patty's extended family is camping in Wisconsin this weekend; we would have liked to join them, but things here are just too chaotic these days.

Whenever Neil visits, he and I seem to spend a lot of time experimenting in the kitchen. This weekend, we have enjoyed poutine (a Canadian dish of fries, brown gravy and cheese -- don't knock it until you try it) and homemade Italian beef. Last time, we invented a "lasagna" version of shepherd's pie. For some reason, Neil is almost always successful at keeping us from dwelling on hardships, and the kitchen provides many avenues of catharsis.

On Saturday, Patty and I went for a walk, and started to talk about what the future may hold. Understandably, Patty is growing frustrated with a regimen that keeps her sick much of the time with minimal returns in terms of protecting her long-term prospects. As we discuss a future course of action with Patty's doctors, we'll share the thoughts and decisions with you here.

This morning, Patty has been vomiting violently and battling severe nausea. This is not really a surprise -- whenever the Cytoxan dose is increased, Patty's degree of illness is also amplified. This is the biggest conundrum -- it's possible the drugs can help bring down the antibody level, but at what cost in quality of life? I feel so helpless, watching her burst into tears, fighting wave after wave of nausea. I guess it's time to go cook something...

Love,
Brian