So Michael had a PET & CT scan today and I thought they would give him the printout from the results but no such luck. So we have to wait until Tuesday when he sees the doctor. I hate waiting but I know the results will be positive...the only thing I'm unsure of is exactly how much the tumors have shrunk.

It's 64, the sun is out and Michael is outside tinkering with the corvette. We'll probably go for a ride later.....that's always a good sign!

Michael has be struggling with severe shoulder pain for the better part of this week. He told the chemo nurse and she suggested that he get it x-rayed but the pain is more in the muscle and not the bone. That evil voice inside my head keeps telling me that the cancer has spread. But after I talk myself off the ledge...I do the logical thing and start scouring the internet for answers. I've read that muscle pain during chemo isn't uncommon. Some believe it is from all the free radicals from the chemo. The Oxycontin doesn't help much...so he takes Advil which seems to help a little and I try my best to distract him from the pain without irritating him.........that could go either way!

Today was not a good day. Michael was ablsolutely miserable when he came home today. I thought that the brief break would make it all the harder to start chemo again and unfortunately I was right. His blood work was good but the doctor thinks he is going to have a few shots every week to keep his white blood count up. I had read that this might happen. Michael isn't happy about it but the doctor has given some meds for the bone pain. He was up to 162.6 lbs yesterday so that was a good thing!!

Well so much for thinking that Michael would have an extra week to feel better...the injections they give him to boost his white blood cells make him feel terrible. His back is really sore and he can hardly sleep. Today was the last day for the Neulasta so he has 3 days to recover before chemo starts on Tuesday.

The CEA markers were down to 683 from 889 last week. I had hoped that they would be lower but I am satisfied that they are still going down. All the other numbers look better as well with the exception of his WBC (white blood cell). Normal is between 4.2-11. The count was right at 4 last week and it's down to 2.2 this week. So he's got 2 more days of the Neulasta injections which will help raise his WBC and then back to chemo next week. I'm telling myself that this is a blessing in disguise. He was going to have to have chemo the week of Thanksgiving but this hiccup bumps chemo to the week after Thanksgiving.

He's feeling OK right now....the Neulasta injections make his bones hurt but he's eating well. I know that Michael is not very good at communicating how he is feeling to all of us. He sees things as black and white and let's face it, he hasn't felt good in awhile. So when all of you take the time to show concern and ask him "How are you feeling?" and he responds "Shitty!" - please keep in mind that what he means is he's not himself and he doesn't really know how to express how he genuinely feels....all he knows is that he doesn't feel good. I'm trying to to get him to rate how bad he feels on a scale of 1-10 but that's just wishful thinking on my part. Thanks to all of you that continutely ask how he's feeling...he really does appreciate it!

So apparently Michael's white blood cell count is too low to have chemo tomorrow. They gave him a shot again and he has to go back Wednesday and Thursday for a shot. The doctor told him not to go anywhere or be around anyone because he is very susceptible to infection....we're supposed to go to a wake tonite. They plan to start chemo next Tuesday. I hate that this has interrupted his progress!