Hi All,

It is hard to believe but we had treatment number 11 out of 35 today and 1 chemo out of 3 this week. That is about a third of the way through. I am well aware of what is to come. My husband knows but is not really ready to acknowledge it. He would rather take each thing as it comes and stay in the moment. He has dry mouth and lots of gunk (gargling and spitting all day). He also is losing normal taste which he is very sad about but is to be expected from what all of you have said. I am concocting all kinds of things for him to eat and drink since he still can. It is funny actually, the combinations that he likes.
We had a scare with the tube yesterday. We were walking together on a beautiful bike path and suddenly his shirt and pants were sopping wet and it did not smell too lovely. We called the doc and rushed home to change the dressing. Lots of nasty discharge. They told us to sit tight and look for infection. If not fever or pain then get to the hospital in the AM. I checked his temp all night and it was fine. When we went today they did an X-ray with contrast and said it is all fine and in fact praised nurse me for how well it was taken care of. They felt that those veins of his might have bled a bit when they took out the T-tack from the surgery. It really scared us but we are okay now. Will watch it.
So we are moving forward. The biggest challenges are yet to come but we have to stay positive and keep smiling when we can. Each day in the Vermont summer is a blessing. We have a beautiful piece of land with lots of flowers and fresh air so that will help.

EllenB