home at last

Sunday keith came home! We are all very happy! the kids are so happy! Bella has been rubbing all over him and kissing on him and of course, ben is beside himself.
He has to go back to UNC Tuesday and i guess we will go from there. He cannot drive or be left alone for more than a few minutes for 2 weeks. I plan on working half days for the next 2 weeks and we actually need some fill ins if anyone has any time on wed and friday this week and wed, thurs, fri next week.
Thanks everyone for your continued prayers and support!
Will update after Tuesday!

homeward bound?

Keith spoke with the docs today. if all goes well, he will come home Sunday!
Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes! He had some blood and platelets, so he should be good by Sunday!
I will keep everyone posted!

update on keith

Today keith is still feeling quite yucky. Mouth and throat pain due to chemo. To only take 15 minutes for one dose, it sure does kick your butt.
He is now on a pain pump and is not eating. All of this is "normal". He has received platelets twice (the stuff that clots your blood). Thanks to all of you that have donated. You are AWESOME!
I haven't been able to speak with keith or skype because it is too painful for him to talk, so we have been texting. If he could get a ticket for texting while intoxicated, he surely would. TWI. Morphine is affecting his typing skills.
Anyway, we are hoping he will be well enough to come home by the end of the weekend. His counts have to go up, he has to be able to hydrate himself without IV fluids and he can't have a fever. He has had a fever all day today and off and on for the past several days. Makes him feel like crap. He is unable to eat due to his throat and mouth pain from the chemo.
Bella has been sick with high fevers at home since Sunday night. Doc says its a virus and will be over in a few days hopefully. If we are not all well at home, keith cannot come home! pray we will all stay well! Poor bella has been so sad.
Thanks for the continued prayers and support! Stay tuned! Will post soon!
Want to especially thank all my peeps at Crossroads Church for all the support and other stuff. you guys ROCK

yucky

keith has started feeling very yucky for the past few days. Mouth sores, throat raw, not eating. Milkshakes and applesauce is about it for food. They told us this would happen, so it is all "normal" so to speak.
Going to visit today, haven't been since Tuesday. Had to work wed, thurs, fri, then had to go to funeral home friday night and funeral today for a co-workers husband who lost his battle with cancer wednesday. I hate cancer. It sucks.

He will most likely get a transfusion of blood/platelets or both in the next few days.

Thanks for all the continued prayers and support. We really miss keith not being here, but hopefully another week and he can come home.
We will have 2 more weeks of "confinement" when he gets home. He can't be left alone for more than a few minutes during that time and he can't drive for 2 weeks either.
Ben and Bella are doing fine. Ben misses keith like crazy and bella just walks around calling Da-Dee, but we will get thru it!

Mickey Mouse??

So today we discovered keith is allergic to zofran (one of the nausea meds). His voiced changed like he had been sucking on helium or immitating mickey mouse. Apparently his tongue was swelling and he could barely speak. A little benadryl fixed that.
He seems to be doing well, just a little stir crazy and bored. His blood pressure was fairly high today. 148/100, so they adjusted some meds, but it didn't change much. We did get out of his room today and walk around a bit. Found some hard candy, which he said was motivation to walk around again. butterscotch, I believe.
thats it for now pretty boring which is what the goal is!
thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!

Sunday

Hey everyone! just updating you on keith. Visited with him a bit today. He is starting to feel icky and tired, which is what they said would happen. He said his throat hurt today, which is a result of the chemo they gave him thursday. It kills all fast growing cells, which unfortunately, isn't just cancer cells, Mucous membranes, GI tract, hair, skin and nails are all affected. He gave me a bit of a scare while I was there saying his throat felt like it was constricting and his voice changed. If you know keith well, you know he is quite the prankster. I thought he was joking, but soon found out he wasn't. Luckily my best buddy was with me and she just happens to be a nurse at UNC women's center. She went and got his nurse because she saw the panicked look on my face. She told him it was normal and not to worry about his throat "closing"! Whew. They may put him on a pain pump and maybe get him a suction machine so that his throat won't be so irritated. His white blood cells have gone from 7.3 to 2.5, which are his cells that fight infection.
His hemadicrit (spelling?) has fallen to 28.8. It was 36.5. If it falls below 25 and if platelets get low enough, he will get a blood transfusion. All of this is totally normal and actually will make him feel better.
We go to the most awesome church. Joe set up a "no hair for keith" type of ceremony today at church at 4pm. He was only expecting a few guys. ELEVEN showed up! including a 14 year old teenager. How awesome was he?! Thank you Ethan. you ROCK. Glenn and Beverly, you guys rock too! Crossroads Church, YOU ROCK!! Video to be on facebook by tomorrow hopefully. I don't know all the people that were involved today, but thank you from the bottom of our hearts. we are not worthy of such love, grace and friendships that you have given us. We are forever grateful and humbled by all of you.
Watch the video, I hear the dude at the end is crazy.
Keith hasn't been eating well today. Breakfast was good, but not so good coming up.
didn't eat much lunch and wouldn't eat dinner. (mystery meatloaf) Delia got him some peanut butter crackers and a couple of drinks to help with nausea. You will have to contact him with the landline in his room or email or facebook. I took him his new cellphone and it doesn't work. Can't call out or in. Planning on taking it to verizon tomorrow.
Love to all of you out there fighting your own battles. Never give up no matter what.
Keep checking in on us, we need it!

it has begun!

Keith was admitted to UNC yesterday. He got his chemo around 4pm. He had a very restless night. Bad headache and nausea. Docs came to check on him today. He was sitting on side of bed and politely asked them to move....he did make it to the bathroom on time! Unfortunate side effect of this chemo. It only took 15 minutes to give it, but it packs a powerful punch. He is getting his stem cells today. This should only take about 20 minutes. He is very nauseous and has a bad headache. The nurse said some people get headaches first few days of being there because the air is so dry (the whole unit is heppa filtered). I had a headache from being there too.
Anyway, other than that, he is doing well. Unfortunately, ben accidentally dropped keiths cell phone in the toilet so it is toast. Waiting on a new one to arrive today.
He does have his laptop and he does have a Skype account, so we were able to let ben see him and chat with him last night. That was pretty cool
The nurses said he can decorate his room however he wanted, so anyone that would like to send cards, posters, pics, encouraging words would be great. No flowers but cards and stuff are fine.
Here is the address and phone number to his room. He should have his cell phone back up and running tonight or tomorrow.
mailing address: BMTU Room 4841 4th floor NC Cancer Hospital. 101 Manning Dr, Chapel Hill, NC 27514. phone number 919-966-6048
Thanks everyone!