Day 121 (Course 2B 26)

Hi Folks,

Sorry its been a few days. We were hoping to get home by the weekend but, that didn't work out. Rita's numbers are still very low so we will be here until Monday or Tuesday at least. Rita did have her last dose of chemo yesterday so we hope that now, she will be able to see her numbers gradually return to normal. It will probably take a little longer than last time as this seems to have a cummulative affect on her ability to recover. We just need to be patient and trust in the process. Rita will have a bone marrow biopsy on Monday and that is the important one. We need to get a result of no blasts so that we know that she is still in remission. If you are looking for something to pray about, that would be a good one.

I know that we haven't been too good at communicating the last few days but, it was a little bit of a tough time so we just tried to support each other and tried to get the time to pass. I'm sure you can relate to that feeling of just wanting to get on with it and yet, making sure that not one minute is taken for granted. Today, I ran out and got some cards so that we could play some games to pass the time. We decided on pitch to start out and Rita beat me the first game. We thought we would change it up a little so we added a kitty for the second game. I won. Rita said "I don't like playing with a kitty - it makes it too easy". The rubber match will be played without a kitty!!

We are hoping to get some better numbers tomorrow and look forward to being home for a break before we start course 3. We just don't know how this will play out so we will let you know when we know for sure. We don't like posting some information only to find out that it changes. We know that all of you are pulling for us and that when things change, you feel it too. Sometimes its better to just wait and see and then post what has happened as opposed to what might happen. We'll try to get better at that.

From a strength and endurance standpoint, Rita is doing great. She is walking over a mile each day with no assistance. Today, she started using a stair stepper and is doing really good with that. I have a feeling that by the time we come home, there will be no more need for the walker and Rita will feel pretty normal around the house. I don't think she will attack the stairs but, you never know with her. I've heard her say that she hid some Christmas presents upstairs at the house. She just may insist on getting them herself. If she does, I'll make sure that she is safe and that she only does what she is capable of doing. After all, she always can send me up to get them - maybe one is for me!!

OK, thats it for tonight. We are going to do a little more excersising and then maybe a movie.

Good night and God Bless, Dave & Rita.