Kenny Update--March 21st

We are still home and it has been a nice break. The last round of chemo was very harsh and Kenny had several issues with it thru Tuesday morning. It was difficult to see him so physically weak with only the 2nd round in him. He was only able to walk from my recliner to the bathroom, sit and rest, use the facilities, sit and rest then make the trek back to the chair all the time carrying a bucket. A distance of about 15 feet. At one point he lost his balance and went to the ground. Fortunately he was okay and Jo told him to hold onto the walls as he walked. He was having a difficult time keeping down meals and this further exasperated his energy. We started him on high protein Boost and it was huge help. As time progressed you could tell that he was feeling better and slowly started to regain enough strength that he was able to walk into the kitchen Tuesday afternoon on his own power with no help. Tuesday night he felt good enough to walk upstairs and slept in his own bed for the first time since last week. Today is even a better improvement. He had almost a full school day in and as I am writing this is watching a movie with several of the siblings. He still has a cough that has persisted for the last 3 weeks. There has not been any fluid in his lungs but it is just irritating to have.
We have had “Big Red” packed and ready to go since yesterday. Kenny is now entering the zone of low white cell count. Blood labs will be drawn tomorrow by the home nurse to check his counts. Jo had been keeping to a regular schedule of checking his temperature. As we were leaving the hospital Saturday we told the nurses that we would see them next week. I would very much like to be proven a liar in this case. ;~) Right now April 5th and 6th are the next big dates on the calendar. A new MRI to review the tumor, an echo cardiogram to check the heart and a discussion on the next steps in his battle.
Kenny is doing great and his attitude even puts Mother Teresa to shame on her so-so days. After a coughing fit that he had earlier tonight with his head over the bucket I asked him how his day had been. “It’s been a good day”. “I got a lot of school done and I’ve restarted my magic tricks”. Looking confused Jo explained that more of his hair started to fall out today.
We are so appreciative of the outpouring of your prayers on our behalf.
Prayer request are
The tumor is shrinking and the cancer is being destroyed.
The next steps the doctors are planning for his cancer battle are the correct ones.
Food – it just does not taste good. We have found a few items that are not totally repulsive.
We can pack enough calories in him to reduce the weight loss he had the last 3 week cycle.
The side effects of this chemo are none – there are so many but heart damage is issue number one.
 

~Ken and Jo~