Taking Turns

After a nice day with the family and friends, I returned early to the hospital to relieve Tara. She had an OK night with him, a bit restless from the sound of it. Henry seemed uncomfortable. Today was Tara's turn for a solid night's sleep and some recuperation.

Henry was tolerant today of the normal nurse check-in's, but began to experience a side effect of the Vincristine. Apparently after about 60 - 90 hours, patients begin to experience pain in the jaw. It came on quickly, but we noticed as he ate his breakfast he was holding his head in his hands. A bit of Tylenol and some Dora videos quelled this for a time, but Henry decided the pain was not worth eating through. While he wanted to, he didn't really eat much today. We decorated the walls with many of your cards and a couple of coloring pages and had some quiet time in front of a movie. Early in the afternoon, the pain management folks supplemented the Tylenol with a narcotic, oxycodone, and he felt better, ate a little and talked up a storm to my visiting mother.

Tara spent the afternoon with the girls and her mom, watching Anna's soccer game and catching up on errands after a family dinner. Time well spent. I'm hopeful for a restful night for her - waking up at home should be rejuvenating.

Tomorrow the first dose of chemotherapy medicines should be cleared of Henry's system and we'll start with the next one.