Day 20, January 9, 2011

It is not a whole lot to write about right now :). Good for Adrian, good for me - good for everyone!! 

Adrian came back home on Thursday afternoon and has been home for the weekend. He left tonight to go back for lab work tomorrow and then home again. 

Then, that is it!!!!

He is doing extremely well. His counts are not sky rocketing. I think his WBC was about 2.6 on Thursday which is absolutely ok. We are a little bit cautious as of where he goes so he is not around a bunch of snotty kids who are coughing their guts up. But we went for dinner last night, sushi and then to the movies - Black Swan. By the way, what a BRILLIANT movie! Very intense and dramatic. Loved it!! 

If I told you and you didn't know Adrian had a transplant 3 weeks ago, you would never believe me. He is just like normal, minus hair, eye lashes and eye brows. He rests in the afternoons, maybe a little nap or just lay down. But other than that it is normal. 

We have gone for a few small walks on our street, the weather has been amazing. Although they are warning for 'extreme' weather this week. Extreme.... I am thinking blizzards and 5 feet of snow.... That would be a dream :). Texas extreme, most likely means in the 30's and maybe a snowflake or two. But for sure no snow that lasts after 12pm. 

Even got an email from the school saying be on the alert in case of early release due to weather. Cute. 

Adrian had a bunch of pills - antibiotics which they prescribed earlier with him to the house. The nurses told him he does not have to take any of them. The only 'medicine' he is on is some he got himself which are helping clean out his body and protect his organs. I'll let you know what they are soon.

Our main focus now is to detox, cleanse and re-engergize his body with lots and lots of healthy organic food. I am going to a cooking class next week to get some info plus there is another course starting in March which we will attend. 

The goal is to maintain the remission status and build the body to be strong and be able to fight anything on its own. 

I was wrong when I wrote, Adrian will go back to MD A for scans and biopsy in a few weeks. The nurses told him, he won't need to do that for at least 3 months. They said, if there were no cancer before they gave him the 'High Dose Chemo' then there will for sure not be any that soon after it. 

Basically - the high dose will wipe anything out for a long period of time. 

Adrian will meet with Dr. Alousi tomorrow and I will know more about it then. 

Something that is a little odd that we thought about. Dr. Alousi was introduced to us as Adrian's transplant doctor when we first went to the Transplant floor. He was the one who told us in detail how everything would work and all the steps and so on. 

Since Adrian got admitted to MD A for chemo and transplant - we have not seen Dr. Alousi. Not once. 

Now I guess that is how big hospitals like this works. They have a 'face' who you talk to and then they send you on to the next one in line. Quite similar to a factory, you go from one section to another and there are different workers in each section. Just that the patient is the 'thing' who is on the band. 

I am not saying that I am not grateful for what they do and have done. Quite the opposite. I feel we are extremely fortunate to have the knowledge and medicines that we have. I know it is not possible to treat each and every individual like they are the only patient in there. The large hospitals have to work out a system where nobody will be forgotten or put aside. Just think about every little thing that happens to each and everyone. Everything is recorded or written down and then on to the next doctor/nurse and then last but not least, billed for. I can't even begin try understand, how they get it all to work. 

What Adrian has decided after the transplant is, if he ever relapses again, he will never go back to MD Anderson, or any other cancer hospital again. Not because he doesn't like the doctors or how they cared for him. He just doesn't believe in treating the cancer with chemo anymore. Like Michael Douglas said, "Unbelievable, they have to kill you to bring you back".

The cancer comes from our food and/or environment. All the fake products which we call food and put in our bodies to digest. Things which have absolutely zero nutrients in them. Things that makes us feel full, but does nothing for our health and immune system.

We are both reading books for two different purposes and they are both saying the same things. About how we poison our bodies and what we need in order to live a long and healthy life. They are telling us about the chemicals in things like tooth paste, lotions we put on our bodies which gets sucked up in our blood streams and of course what we eat. Food who last for weeks and months without ever changing. Food that have been modified to fit in to our daily society and needs. 

It can just never be too late to change.

I have bought organic chicken, milk and eggs for a long time, years. Sometimes snacks, fruit, vegetables, granola and yoghurt too. Since Adrian's cancer, I have changed more and more. I will not buy any meat, beef or chicken which has not been grass fed. Nothing which has been corn fed at all. Basically, all I buy now is organic or from farmers markets here in Austin. 

It narrows things down a little and takes a little more time planning. But that is why I will go to these courses to learn about it all in depth. 

This way we will also teach our children to eat healthy and promote a healthy life style. When I was driving around in Houston looking for restaurants we played a game in the car, I said the name of the restaurant/chain or a kind of food and they would tell me if it was healthy or not. 

I am not saying we are going to be 100% perfect but at least give it a full hearted shot. We can't risk Adrian or anyone else getting sick again like this.