Saturday night/Sunday morning was very difficult, but it may have been the darkest before we had a glimmer of light. When I got home from church on Sunday morning, I microwaved a burrito for lunch. Harriet Told me that she looked over at my burrito and for the first time in a week, food looked good. This is a big deal!
On Saturday I told Harriet That I wanted to put her in our car and take her for a ride either on Saturday afternoon or Sunday afternoon, to give her a chance to get out of the house and into the light as it were. She had eaten the rest of the watermelon and I suggested that we go to Sprouts and buy a full-size watermelon. So, we went for a short ride and Harriet was actually hungry and suggested we stop off at In-N-Out for a hamburger. The mere fact that she was suggesting to eat was a big deal. For the past week she is had zero appetite and no desire to eat. Harriet was only able to eat about a third of our hamburger and she was full. Then we drove around a little bit more and went home. The unfortunate part about it is that Harriet system is not used to eating food anymore and it went right through her like Grant went through Richmond. So this means that she's can have to take it easy getting back into eating food.
On the good side that it was a definite indicator that the worst effects of the chemotherapy will last about one week and then a semblance of recovery will start. I spoke with our good friend Mary Carol yesterday morning at church and told her that the cycle of chemotherapy is 21 days apart. She explained that the dosage then was very high in the amount of drugs given to Harriet. Then it all clicked in my brain. I've been reading a lot about chemotherapy and it stated that sometimes people get chemotherapy multiple times in one week. I realize that there are obviously different types of cancer and different types of treatment for those cancers. But, it seems that the dosage varies with the type of cancer and the approach taken. If the chemotherapy is taken on consecutive days in a week, the dosage is less and they spread it over many days. In Harriet's case, they drop the atomic bomb on her. Big dosage and that's why it is really put her on the brink of death.
It is good to see that she's doing a little better and I'm hoping of course that today will be better yet. Thank you for your continued prayers and support. We are blessed indeed to have so many good friends!
Frank and Harriet
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