We've got a "Hurtin' Little Cowboy", gang....

What a difference a few hours makes!

Yesterday morning, when I spoke to Dom, he was feeling great. Good appetite, good spirits. Several hours later, he was miserable.

They pulled the Pic Line out of his arm. He was all swollen. An ultrasound showed a big blood clot. He was exhausted.... sweating, chills, etc.

They spent about an hour on his "good arm" to place a new Pic Line with no luck. He was miserable.

I spent the day in MS yesterday while all of this was going on. The house was standing, the kitties were sassy, all was fine.

Got to Tulane around 9am, to find our patient gone. Checked with his nurse to find that they were putting the new Pic Line in him. He'd had his morning radiation, which didn't go well. Had to stop a couple of times.

When they wheeled him back to the room, he looked horrid. And, he sure wasn't his normal charming self.

While I was there (until about 3:30), the Occupational Therapist visited, as did his Physical Therapist. She was the last broad that he wanted to see, and told her to scram. She persisted and had him out of bed for a short time.

His fingers and bad arm started cramping.... the pain woke him up. I called the nurse, and she got a painkiller for him. It helped. Gave him another shot in the gut for the blood clot, which you can't even see anymore.

Radiation picked him up at about 1:30. While he was gone, I straightened his bed, got him another pillow, tidied up in general.

To my delight, when they wheeled him back, he had a smile on his face. Looked a thousand times better than after his first bout with radiation.

I've mentioned "John Rink" before. Probably mentioned that he was "the man that I really love". *smiling*

We had a good talk today. He assured me that although the blood clot wasn't normal., the rest of his problems were expected after total body irradiation. He then went on to basically tell me to "toughen up", and that "this is nothing". "It's not a sprint, Nan....it's a marathon.... you're going to be dealing with much worse than chills and sweats. Dom will get through this just fine".

Yeah....John's a doll.

Headed back tomorrow morning, Thursday, which is "Day -1". Two more bouts of radiation, and then his transplant on Friday. Keep the prayers/good vibes coming.

XOXO