Steve calls in sick

Hi, this is Steve's family. We are writing a guest post since Steve called in sick and is feeling really crummy. We have taken over his blog! He said we could upload this picture of him. His face and the rest of his body are red and puffy. After 6 days in the hospital, Steve came home on Saturday. While he was in the hospital, he was attached to his chemo "pole" constantly while it dripped lots of fluids into his system. We came up with lots of names for the pole (Roman Pole-anski, Sarah Pole-in, Pole McCartney, Ichabod Crane, Pope Pole II, Pole-tergeist, Pole-dancer), but in the end Na-pole-an Dynamite stuck. 

The hospital had an extensive menu--it was so big, we decided to rate the various items we tried on a scale of 1 to 5. You could call in your order and they would deliver it to his room. They even had a special menu for immuno-suppressed patients like Steve. On the first day, he was really excited about the cheeseburger (5 stars!). They even had salmon, pasta, smoothies, iced mocha, and pizza. By the fourth day, his appetite for food wore off and he mainly ate yogurt and applesauce.  

Shortly before he left the hospital, his blood and platelet counts dropped 

(as expected with chemo), so he needed transfusions for both. They let him go home to recover because there are fewer germs at home than in the hospital and it's a nicer place to be with more of his toys. He will need to go in for blood draws every day, though. The effects of the chemo are pretty harsh, so he is feeling miserable. He slept for about four days straight from Thursday to Sunday. He still spends most of his time sleeping and trying to think of a food that he might actually feel like eating. It changes from minute to minute... enchiladas, then tuna, and then mint chip ice cream. Now suddenly he wants chicken fried rice! But he can only manage to eat bananas, yogurt, applesauce, and juice.

Here are some more pictures from his hospital stay. 

Johanna eating a tasty meal at the hospital.

View from the 12th floor.

Rachael and Nic getting ghoulish.

Brian, Cindy, and Johanna wandering the hospital hallways.