We're home.......... again!
We're planning on staying away from Little Rock until Nov. We actually turned in the keys to the apt and officially left.

Frank went to the hospital yesterday morning having been fever free since Wed. afternoon. His blood pressure/heart heart were about the same, so they gave him some more fluid. Cat scan results were normal. Labs looked good. They decided to do a "just to be safe" MRI of his shoulder. He'd been having some pain that mimicked the shoulder pain he had when he relapsed. Praise God that it was negative. No myeloma was seen.

So, we gladly headed home. Frank will do lab work twice a week in Memphis, go back to work and move forward!

For I know the plans I have for you, delcares the Lord. Plans to give you HOPE and a FUTURE. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11,13

Good evening. Another full day at the hospital, and still no answers.

On paper, Frank looks great.
White count is 2.5. That's low for you and me, but not for him.
Platelets are 78. Still increasing.
Hematocrit is still 10 but that's expected too.
The infection indicatior called the CRP is below 0.5. All good.

But he still has fever. Blood pressure was 88/60 and heart rate was 155. Could be better.
The nurse said she thought she heard some crackles in his lungs. And they did a cat scan today of his head and chest.

If nothing shows up tomorrow, we'll probably coming home. (As I type this, he just took his temp... NO FEVER)

The guest book is full. Someone does that for us, so we'll try to fix it soon. When you read the updates, another way to sign is to click on "comments" at the bottom of the update. I don't think there is a limit there. Thanks for keeping up with us. We love it, we read them to each other depending on who's at the computer.

Phil 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God

OK - Time for an Update!

It's noon and we are sure there are some curious voyuers out there.
Here's the skinny.......no one knows whats wrong with me.

The labs came back good, infection detector - CRP - was <.05 - which is very low. These tests tell the Dr's that there is nothing obvious to zero in on.

I have been sitting at UAMS taking IV antibiotics all morning and after we do this thing called a nasal wash, I can go back to the apartment. I'm told nasal washing is really fun. I'll let you know!

Instead of praying that they will find out what is wrong with me, let's just start praying that the mystery infection will mysteriously go away.

We love you guys and will be home soon......
Frank & Peggy

Good evening.
Today has been a roller coaster of emotions. Without a lot of narrative ~ here are the facts.... oh beloved prayer warriers.

Frank's running fever that keeps going up. It's 8 pm now and it's 102.3. We've been at West Clinic all day. They wanted to admit him to Baptist East, but we made the decisions to return to Little Rock after talking with them.

The emotions of all this have us gripped right now. You can only imagine. We were home. Glorious weekend at church. Fever, and in the midst of it all, a dear family friend passed away today.... of Multiple Myeloma. We won't even be able to attend Barabara's funeral.

Our hearts are saddended. We are anxious about tomorrow... you know...
But we are assured of so much. God is in control. He has us in His hands and we are confident as we leave our family once again, that we are still making the right choice.

I'm thankful for the verse in Romans that tells us that the Spirit knows how to pray for us when our hearts are too burdened.
Pray for Frank, for our family friends, and thank you for your faithfulness.
We love you. Peggy and Frank

WE ARE HOME!!

We saw Dr. Barlogie Friday afternoon. He was very pleased with how things went. Platelets were 37, so labs will be drawn in Memphis until they are over 100.

We return to Little Rock in November for a full work up.
The recovery process is still in motion but everything looks great.

We get the IMF (International Myeloma Foundation) newsletter emailed to us. There was this article on it featuring UAMS. It's about a study that brings hope for treatments that are more individualized based on genetic groups (blah blah blah), but it states that they are largest Myeloma center in the world. Isn't that amazing? We are so blessed that we can drive over in a couple of hours, not have to fly, be able to see the kids with ease, and so many other things yet still be so confident that the best care in the world for his type of cancer is so close.

We're laying low this weekend. Driving kids to homecoming, dances, parties and playing Monopoly. We won't update on a daily basis anymore, probably weekly.

This website is a blessing for us, and we hope it has been for you too. Some people sign the guestbook... and we love that... and others tell us they check it but don't ever sign... so we only assume that others check it and we don't know about it....

But if you are reading this... you have been prayed for by us. We thank God that you have been faithful to pray for us, care about us, love us and walk this jouney with us.

Part of what gets us by is knowing we aren't alone. It means so much. We are praying blessings on YOUR family!!

Only by HIS grace, Frank, Peggy, Chandler, Zach and Chase, and our WHOLE family!!!

Well everyone here it is....we've been cleared for release!

Praise God Almighty and the saints in His care.

The labs came back great today, my body is working like mad to push out fresh cells, and I have an appoinment on Friday to see the Dr.

The photo is of (most) my care team. They watched over me and helped steer me through this process. These ladies are the best and I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate thier service.

It is hard to believe this is winding down but again, we are so excited!
Love Frank & Peggy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZACH !!!!!! You're finally 13!

Your mom and dad love you so much!! We are looking forward to celebrating your birthday very soon! Have a wonderful wonderful day and enjoy being 13! You were born at 9:12 am.... so watch the clock and smile real big for yourself. We are proud of you and so glad God entrusted you to us.

INSOMNIA REPORT 2:30 am

I don’t know if these kinds of thought processes ever happen to anyone else, but they happen to me.
Tonight, as I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, the events of the day, and even events from previous days, started replaying in my mind. Some thoughts are random like, I wish I knew that name of that cool song I heard today, or the topics can be real heavy weights.

Like, how much more abuse can my body take from all these treatments?What happens then?
After about 30 minutes of this fruitless thinking I remembered that it isn’t my job to worry about tomorrow.

I went and read Matthew 6:25-34 and re-reminded myself that as a child of God, He will take care of me. God knows what I need before I (or we) even ask. The events of my life are in His hands.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that we should not ask Him for help when we run into trouble, just that we have to trust His answers.

So, as my insomnia became dulled by the stress of treatment, I got on my hands and knees. I pressed my face into the floor and I thanked God for all the blessings He has given. I thanked Him for all the people who have reached out to me and my family, and I thanked Him in advance for healing me and giving me enough health that I can go home soon.

To everyone that has even as much as said a kind word to me and my family – may God richly bless you.

Frank

later today:

Todays visit to the hospital was a good one. Everything went as planned -good lab values and no reactions to the medications. I was such a good boy that I didn't even need any platlets.

If I can produce the same results tomorrow we will be able to start talking (thinking) about coming home. Wow, it seems so wild to think this is almost over.
Here's to seeing everyone soon! Frank

SUPER SUNDAY!

What a day!! We had an 11 hour day at the hospital. If you're one of those people that read the last sentence in a book to make sure it ends good, than this is for you: He's doing okay and we got some good news today.

After I posted last night about his fever, it went up to 102. We started the infusor and gave him Tylenol, but still had 101+ this morning. They ran cultures, and he got his regular antibiotic. He was already scheduled to get 2 bags of whole blood today, but his platelets were 17 so he needed those too.

He had a severe reaction to the platelets. He had a reaction like this last Thursday, but they thought it was the anti fungal instead of the platelets. It was intense for while.
Fever 104, blood pressure dropped, wet with sweat. But our nurse was wonderful and took really good care of him. He was shaking so bad they had to get his blood pressure down at his ankle.

That reaction caused a chain of events... chest x-ray, 2 more antibiotics, a bag of fluid, iv push drugs, demeral and more. But he still needed the whole blood.

So, in the middle of that transfusion, he breaks out in a sweat again and I got the nurse. His reaction wasn't as severe. But his fever did shoot up again. He finished only one bag... they are waiting to give the other one tomorrow.

That's only the short version believe it or not. But in the midst of all that we got great great news.

His white count went from 0.6 to 2.04!! He's not neutropenic anymore! Yeah. And if they rule out any infection tomorrw, they may make a discharge appointment for Dr. Barlogie this week.

We might be home by the weekend. How awesome is that?? He's so proud of himself.

Don't ever doubt Frank's sense of humor. At the scariest moment during the reaction, he's shaking so bad, the nurse is right in middle of pushing his IV Demeral and his vitals are crazy......

He holds his breath and "plays dead" for a second. We all sort of just stop and stare at him and he opens his eyes and smiles at her. She wanted to kill him and I don't blame her!! I smacked his bald head. Same feeling when you think your child is lost. You're so panicked and when you see that they're safe you hug them and then yell at them.

So, his stem cells are grafting. His bone marrow is working hard to recover. They are running test that will try to explain the reaction to the platelets and we may have some answers tomorrow.

Lisa came to get the kids for me. She stopped in to say hi on the way and was there for all the action. Then she got the kids and took them home for us. I haven't even talked to Zach since this morning but they had tied one, and won 2 games.

Thank you so much for you prayers, and your encouragement all along the way. We are thankful for answered prayer, for God's continued watch care over Frank. And we are renewed with strength knowing this is almost over!

With love to you all, Peg and Frank

Hi guys,

We have a prayer request. Frank's fever is going up. It's 101 now. He has an antiobiotic infusor but the protocol is fever 101.5 or higher. So we won't hook it up yet. The bones will ache from the growth factor shots, but with his headache and the aching, the rising fever could be more than we originally thought. He's been in the bed all day with a cold rag and ice pack on his head.

Please pray this fever is not from an infection and that if it is, that God would heal him from it quickly. The desire of our heart is that Frank have a complete and full recovery from this transplant without complication.

He just wanted to rest and have some quiet. The zoo is just 10 miles or less from here, so I took Chandler and Chase out for an hour or so while he slept. We're all here together now.
The little bit of time we were at the zoo, it was nice. Not because the zoo was good though.

Chandler thought we should ask for our money back, and I didn't disagree. Only the primates were out. Except for one momma/nursing camel and some fish we fed for 25 cents, all the other animals were on vacation. We didn't see anybody! But the apes and monkeys were worth the trip. We giggled and laughed with them and learned a few things too. We think it was mating season... saturday night... and a beautiful day. Let's just say I had a lot of explaining to do for Chase. But I digress.......

I miss Zach. I called to check on them while we were at the zoo. They tied their first game. I wish he were here.

Thank you for praying with us and for Frank.
"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Heb 4:16

"No Pain, No Gain" That's the theme for the weekend!

I came back to Little Rock with Chandler and Chase yesterday. The kids were happy to see Daddy. I was happy to see him too!! We just hung out and watched TV. We found Talk Soup on E! and I haven't heard Frank laugh so hard in a long time. We were all having a good time laughing. Frank and the kids went through a box of popsicles between them... one right after another... I think for the jokes on the sticks.

Where do bees go for their day off? To the wax museum.
What kind of key can't open a door? A donkey.

Okay.....Don't everybody rush out to buy a box of popsicles!

Ok, one more.

What animal hates doing the laundry? A leopard because he has lots of spots.

Pain: Even in the midst of laughing at Talk Soup, Frank wasn't feeling good. He started running a fever. The growth factor shots they give him were making his back throb with every move. He took a Darvon but was up all night and very uncomfortable.

Gain: We got to the clinic this morning, both looking like we've had a rough night. We both had headaches and he's been hurting all night. They always say that if you're hurting, that means the growth factor shots are working. They are right!

White count 0.61 ~ up from 0.02
Platelets 20 ~ up from 7. Go Frank! Go Frank!

He needed some fluid, potassium and magnesium and his head is hurting really bad but we are so pleased, and thankful for his progress. The fever was his body working hard to make cells. It's called a nuetrapenic fever. It's not from an infection.
His red counts were low today. Hematocrit 25 and Hemoglobin 8. They said he may get a bag of blood tomorrow. He's back in the bed asleep right now.

We miss Zach. He's in Nashville with his Lobos team playing in a tournament. Please pray for his safety while we're apart and success for the team.

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the weak. And to those who have no might, He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary. And the young men shall utterly fal.
But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. The shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40: 28-31

Today was pretty routine labs, antibiotics, platlets, and a cup of lime serbert. The sherbert was in the fridge in the break room. It made me feel better than any of the stuff the nurses did to me.

On the whole today was a break even day. Nothing cooking on the platlets or white cells yet. Perhaps Saturday will bring a well deserved bump.

Once I get started moving up, I'll be pumping those White cells out by the millions. I guess I'll have to lay around and watch bad movies for a few more days.

Peg, Chandler, and Chase are coming to Little Rock today. Yippie! Can't wait to see them. Zach will be in Nashville playing soccer for the Lobos. Go Zach! Go Lobos!

Frank

Today's labs brought much of the same news,
WBC .02 (which is higher),
Platlets 7 and no infection.

I recieved a bag of platlets today and will probably get at least one more before this process gets completed.

On the whole, things are going well. Except for the exahustion, I have been feeling good.

Since I got here I have been asking everyone where they are from. It appears that the traveler from farthest away is from Delaware. It really is neat to meet people from all over the country. It is also very neat when I find out they are believers. The strength that we draw from each other is really neat.

That's it for now, Frank

Well, We learn something new everyday. (That's suppose to be a good thing, I think)

His white count lowered today to 0.01. So, somebody was wrong when they said 0.02 was the lowest the machine could calculate. I hope that's it, cause I'd hate to think Frank just did something new.
His platelets were 9, but they didn't have any to give him.... so.... he didn't get any.

That makes me feel really guilty because I have 100 missed calls from Life-Blood at home. Platelets have a really short shelf life. They take 2 days to process and only have 5 days before they expire. It's hard to do a direct donation for him. I've tried before but the timing gets tricky and he never gets mine.

I got really home-sick....kid-home-sick and made a quick decision to come home for a couple of days. Mom and I switced places. I picked up carpool, and studied for a 5th grade science test with Chase all night.

Frank is where he's suppose to be. His numbers won't start coming up until the 18 or 19th. So all this is normal and expected. He really is doing good!!

Our - (yours, mine and his) prayers are being answered. He's been fever free and other than fatiqued, symptom free. The "chemo" fog is lifting and he's staying awake longer too. More time for us to stare at each other! Although, he did beat me at backgammon the other day.

We love you all.... you make the journey so much easier for us. Thank you!!

Happy Tuesday everybody.

Frank's platelets are 19 today, so the APN said she'd wait unitl tomorrow for a transfusion. White count still 0.02. No signs of infection.

He is doing fabulous. He satisfied his cravings today with a Sonic corndog and peach tea... his current favorite. We're back at the apt now and he's resting.

We were reminded today of these precious truths by a dear friend.
Thank all of you so much for your encouraging words and prayers. We know with all our heart that God is answering your prayers. Praise the Lord!

"The Lord is faithful in all He says, He is gracious in all he does. The Lord helps the fallen and lifts up those bent beneath their loads." Psalm 145:13-14

Happy Birthday to Frank! He's 42 today.

He's doing well. His blood work today was good. White count still 0.02, but the bag of platelets did pretty good. Holding at 24. No transfusion today.

He's slept most of the day, and we're heating up left overs for dinner. It's raining here. I've been working this afternoon to help pass the time.

Hope you are all having a great day. I'm thankful for so much today. And like you all, very proud to be an American!! The shows about 9/11 are moving.

In His grace, Peggy

Good evening,

I'm sorry we haven't updated until now. Frank is doing well. Levels are dropping as expected. His white count is 0.02. A nurse told us once that this is the lowest the machine can caculate. I guess we'll see if that's true.
Platelets are 14. He got his first platelet transfusion today. Red counts are low too. Hematacrit 29.

Hope that's not too boring for most of you. We have some family and friends that like to know the actual lab values, and some will tell me they don't know what it means....

We haven't updated because we've sort of been bad. We decided to sneak home on Friday and be back in Little Rock on Saturday for his daily lab values and anitbiotic. We confided in our APN and she sweetly turned a deaf ear to our plan knowing we'd be back in less than 24 hours, even though she pleaded with us to be careful because of his platelet count. I guess she saw the determination in our eyes.

We made it home, and within the hour we got a phone call from her. "Oh my gosh" was all we could say... she's going to make us come back... But we were wrong, she showed mercy on us. She said she'd been thinking since we left and she thought Frank would be fine to take a day off and to come back Sunday. What a gift!!

Frank rested all day and night, never left the house and only got up once or twice. The kids were glad to see him and we just hung out Friday and Saturday.

I worked in the yard for 6 hours.
Each one of the kids helped me at different times, so that was nice too. I keep trying to perfect my weed eater skills, but one of boys will get frustrated watching me and take it from me. I keep telling them I can't learn if they do that, but they take it from me anyway.

It felt great to be outside working, being productive and not too far away from Frank. We got back to the clinic by 2 this afternoon.

So here we are... back in the apartment watching Manning vs Manning on TV. I feel sorry for the other players that showed up to play. Peyton and Eli are the only ones they seem to be talking about.

This is the day that the Lord has made!!
And we are rejoicing.............much love........ peg and frank

Well, he did it!

It's 1:00 and the cells have been in for about 20 minutes. They're monitoring his vitals and giving him fluid. We'll be here for about 2 hours just to make sure he doens't have a reaction.
He got 6 million cells. He's the "6 million stem cell man".

We prayed over these cells with our APN, and the tech that delivered the cells. We thanked God for his faithfulness, the wisdom given to the doctors, and the wonder of the cells that will grow to be the blood that sustains his life. We are thankful for his health, for how well he's done and for the opportunity we have to just have this transplant.

Psalm 100
Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness, come before His presence with singing.
Know that the Lord, He is God. It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to HIm, and bless His name.
For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting. And His truth endures to all generations.

Well, things are finally starting to happen. We went in for his last of the 3 Melphalan doses. It's the same routine every day. Vitals, labs, fluids, antibiotics and today, chemo. His lab values came back with some news....

He's neutropenic today. That means his white count is below 1,000. It's 0.84. Platelets are 43. The red cells are dropping as well. The party has started.

Tomorrow is transplant day. He'll get his stem cells in the morning. The wierd thing about them is the odor. The preservatives that are in the bag come out through your pores. People describe it differently, but I think it's an acidic sort of odor. Sort of like V8 juice. I bought some candles today. Anybody ever mix v8 juice and vanilla together?

Prayer requests for the next 10 days is mostly for Frank to stay free of infection. They monitor his labs daily for his electrolytes. He gets things as needed. And we want those little cells to graft quickly so his counts can come up fast.

What do we do all day?? It's pretty low key actually. Frank comes home and watches TV and sleeps on and off for most of the day. I walked around the apt complex yesterday for about 45 minutes. It was a beautiful day. I do different things: bible study, a little work (data entry), watch tv with Frank...... not much really. That's why we love hearing from you. We check the website/email several times in the evening.
Thank you for keeping up with us. It's very encouraging.

Frank and I have been laughing about what we watch on TV. If our compatability hinged on what we prefer to watch on TV, we don't know how we ever got married. It's funny, but after he falls asleep again, I reach for the remote, trying not to wake him up. But, when he opens his eyes, I give it back. I'm all upset, because Little Rock doesn't air Gilmore Girls. I've called the cable company and everything. They don't have it. Bummer.

Until tomorrow...... we're going to dream about stem cells..... fragrance free.

In His grace... peg and frank

Monday – Labor Day

I hope that today was NOT a labor for everyone. It certainly was not one for us.

Peggy and I took the hospital staff’s advice and showed up early for this morning’s routine. This paid off, since as we left our room the waiting area was completely full of patients that were not early risers.

My labs came back normal meaning – blood counts are falling (this is supposed to be happening), no obvious complications ie - fever, cough, etc., and I feel remarkably ok.

So for all of you that are praying KEEP DOING IT! God is so good!

The rest of our day was just us hanging out. That’s about it. We miss being home and can’t wait to see everyone soon.

Hebrews 4:15-16 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

We are so thankful today so for so many things. God has been so merciful to us.
Yesterday was a great day for us to spend together. After we got back from the hospital, Frank took a good long nap. But by the time he woke up, the indians were restless. 3 years ago, we took them to a place where you can drive race cars. We decided to let them go around the track a time or two. That was fun. Chase, after 3 years, still wasn't tall enough to drive his own car.

So after wiping his big blue eyes, he decided it would be fun to ride with Chandler. Zach was sweet enough to give up one of his "big track" turns to ride with Chase on the smaller track.

Frank sat in the shade, and did really well. He was tired, and the hour was long enough for him, but he enjoyed watching them, and paid enough attention to note how aggressive of a driver Chandler was. When she came off the track, she told a funny story about a mom and small child in a car near her. "She kept giving me THE LOOK like I should just let her pass me just for her kid. But I was there to win!"... Behold our future driver.

With Frank being tired, we were going to cook at home and just hang out, but he got a second wind and wanted to eat out. So we got catfish.

The picuture of Frank and the kids is at the restaraunt. He was making fun of me for taking SO many pictures. He was really tired and ready to go, but he put on that face to tease me. But he looks good, doesn't he?

We just watched TV after that while Frank slept amongst us. It was great to be together.
Today, Chandler went with us to the hospital. She wanted some Krispy Kream, so she and I left and came back with 2 dozen donuts. We enjoyed sharing them with staff and family. Chandler was taking good care of her daddy, getting him ice chips and water, but of course, she had to make the most of an oppertunity. You can see by the pictures, that we are determined to keep laughing a priority.

Although, we weren't laughing when a new patient came into our room today with a fever of 102.5, infection of unknown origin (for 3 weeks), and a cough!!

Chandler and I packed Frank up fast, grabbed a nurse and told her we needed a new room!! That shouldn't have happened!! Who put them in our room?? She agreed, and we moved.

We didn't want to hurt their feelings, so we gave them 2 donuts on our way out the door. The raspberry filled one!! I hope she feels better soon.

Frank's platelets are 77.

White and red counts dropping.

No nausea. Still has a decent appetite. So far, he's doing awesome!! Answered prayer!!

The kids went home today. Lisa and Jim passed through on their way home from camping, so they picked them up for us. Miss them already.

Have a wonderful holiday tomorrow. Thank you for praying for us. We feel each and every one. His grace is sufficient.

Psalm 59:16-17 But I will sing of Your power, Yes I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning, For You have been my defense and refuge in the day of trouble. To You, O my Strength, I will sing praises, for God is my defense, My God of mercy.

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

Happy Saturday,

The kids slept in while Frank and I went to the clinic. We weren't there long today. He just got labs and antibiotics. Everything looks good right now. His platelets are coming down just a little

bit, and his hematacrit and hemaglobin are

coming down some too.

We are praising the Lord for answered prayer. Whatever bug he had is gone and he's not running any fever.

Frank says he can feel the affects of the chemo a little more today. He's sleeping more. But no nausea. I'm praying that the divided dose of chemo will help with that.

We shared a room today with another patient preparing for his 3rd transplant. He's just getting started, so I'm sure we'll see them a lot these next few weeks.

We'll go tomorrow for the 2nd round of chemo. Thank you for praying for us. Have a wonderful weekend.

Peggy, Frank and the kids

Good morning,

Yesterday was busy. We got to the hospital thinking we knew exactly where wer were going (because we'd been there twice before). We walked in, the nurse said she'd been waiting on us and put us in a room. Then they asked if we'd been to admissions yet. That was new. But whatever.
So I go out to get directions from the nurses desk.
She says "what's the name."
"Carlton."
"I don't have a Carlton. I have a Chambers. "
"Huh?" "Oh my", she says.
"You're on the Kidney-Liver Transplant Unit."
YIKES! Ooops, wrong place. Bone marrow unit moved down the hall.......

So, we thank God for Frank's healthy kidneys and liver and go check in to the Bone Marrow Unit. Now this routine looks familiar! They prepared him for chemo ~ fluids, iv antibiotics, anti nausea, and stuff.

When the APN came in , she found out he'd been sick Tues night with slight fever on Wed. They talked about holding the chemo, but after consulting with an infectious disease doctor, they decided to proceed. So, the first round of chemo is complete.

We learned something new. The APN told him chew ice as much as possible for the 12 hours the Melphalan (high dose chemo) is in his system. It causes vasoconstriction and helps protect the mucosal lining in his GI tract from being affected by the chemo. It's not a scientific fact, but some patients swear it helps with mouth sores and diarrhea. It's a wives tale. Kinda like when the doctor tells you that teething in your baby doesn't cause their nose to run. We all know it does.

So, when I kissed Frank goodbye, he was chomping ice....and shivering.

It seemed like I got home in 15 minutes. I was there when the kids got home. That felt so great. From 3:30 to 8:30 we picked up Chase, did guitar lesson, cut grass, raked/bagged grass, threw broken weedeater against house (did i say that?), ate dinner, soccer practice, and I missed my school meeting, the main reason I came home in the first place.
Some things don't always go as planned.
But on a better note: I got to hug on our babies, talk about schoool, friends, boys, girls, the weekend; sleep in my own bed, and wake the kids up this morning. The kids and I are looking forward to spending time with Daddy for a few days.

Today Frank just has labs and a few IV drugs. It should be a light day.
Thank you for all your prayers and more.
We feel blessed. Love, Peggy