Friday Nov 7 to Sat Nov 8

I slept pretty decent... I got to the hospital in the morning and he was pretty out of it... His ICU nurse Jen is really nice... Apparently Chris was up all night every hour going to the bathroom... (except, he isnt allowed to go to the bathROOM so he had a very annoying night)
He is apologizing to the nurse and she tells him she is so immune to that... she can eat a sandwich while watching someone go to the bathroom
Anyways, the constant diareaha is apparently from all the antibiotics they have him on...
He will be drinking a contrast later for his bowel catscan...
He had a frustrating night and a nurse had come in and said she was praying for him... awww.. she left a prayer card for him
I told Chris I was going to work and he was a lil confused... he clearly needed rest... So I told him to rest because he would be getting visits from lew and the crew
Lew was texting me during the day telling me he seemed better.. and they were talking about sending Chris back up to the 4th floor
I worked and called Chris after work... He said he was done drinking the contrast and he was going to catscan at the moment... soooo since it was 530... he said he would be an hour... I was in limbo... if i went to the hospital as planned, i wouldnt see him til 630 and then from 7 to 8 you cannot be in ICU... so Christine Rapach met up with me for a drink and a bite...
Of course, the catscan went faster than planned.. but regardless I needed to eat... So I went back to see him at 8pm...
The new nurse, Eva, was sooo sweet... She told us that they were waiting for a room but didnt have it yet
So, I hung out with him, dosed off.. etc...
She got the attending doc to look at the catscan... it appeared there was no puncture in his colon but we still have to wait for final reading
By midnight, they had a room and we transferred him to 4North
The nurses up there are happy to see him...
So, once he was settled I left to go home...

Saturday morning, Chris called me around 7am... I called him back when I realized I missed his call... he was pretty alert, so he told me he was feeling good... and I told him I would see him soon
Lew let me know that he would be heading up around 10am...
I got up there after the Waxmonskys were already there...
They brought him a camo hat and a lil stuffed animal monkey/lemar thing... when you squeeze him he goes "Boooyyying" He loves it
I know Chris is so happy that his dad and brothers spent so much time coming up to see him this week
It came time for them to leave. It was pretty emotional.... Chris was very upset to see Lew go.. all 4 Waxmonskys left at once.. it was overwhelming for Chris...
Lew is flying back to Florida tomorrow ... that stinks for us... but good for his fiance Jen
Tommy is gonna try to get down here more... and Matt will be coming more too (or like he said, i will be showing up at his front door to bring him here myself)

So, now its just me and Chris... My brother just came to bring me some lunch/dinner... and to hang out with us...
Chris is not able to eat anything except ice chips and small sips of water until his bowels recover.
The catscan basically shows that his small intestine got all bound up and are irritated...
So they want him to rest them
He is not hungry because he is getting nutrients through the IV....

Oh, and the priest... Fr. Desmond... came to see him today after the family left.. He is so nice

Christine Rapach comes to visit too...
Chris basically has a Dr Phil session with her.. poor Christine...
We are all crying at one point... Chris is talking about how God dumped him in my life for a reason. and that he was meant to be part of all our lives... and he isnt going anywhere cus my friends need him. blah blah... we are crying.. awww

So, basically, as of now, we are waiting for the infection to clear up, for the bowels to rest... because they want him to start eating again, which will make him stronger, which will help him overall..
I am not sure exactly when they would do bone marrow biopsy, but its happening after he recovers... (1-2 weeks from now i think)
And, then hopefully transplant....

Keep sending your prayers...
Thanks Lew for bringing Dad, Danny, and Tommy this week... I really think that having everyone back in his life is helping Chris fight...
Its too bad Lew is 1200 miles away normally.. but we will see him soon
Matt will be coming weekly ;)

Thanks Dana, Chris, and Sean for sending the hawaiian shirs, starbucks gift cards, and coffee mug... Chris was so excited when I brought them here for him to see.. He said "oooh my own coffee mug!!" made him so happy

signing off for now...
love jenn

Wed into Thursday )November 5-6

Well, I stayed at the hospital during half of Wednesday to stay with Chris...

Lew brought Tommy... Did I already tell you all this? I cannot rememeber, but Chris is happy to see Tommy and Lew even though he is sleeping on and off.. we watched the blood pressure go up and down this whole time...

I went to work for the afternoon... Lew and Tommy were still there... so he wasnt alone... By the time i went home after work, Chris told me they were gonna most likely move him to ICU

I go to the hospital.... They are moving him to ICU because they arent able to get his blood pressure up with fluids... Down in ICU, they can regulate all the meds better.. there is closer watch from nurses... There is indeed an infection in his blood.. so they started antibiotics... on top of other ones they began earlier

I packed up his clothes, the bag of snacks we had there (for when he was eating), his laptop, his blankets, my work bag and they finally get a room in ICU after midnight. by the time paperwork is done it is 1am or later...

When we get down to ICU (with his cart of stuff) its almost 2am.. I stuck around to make sure he was settled.. but had to go home to sleep to get up for a job fair early this morning (Thursday)... The ICU nurses quickly had me leave and wait in the waiting area while they got him situated...

Ugh... I just wanted to go home.. i hadnt slept last night

Here is Jenn (me)getting extra sensitive and cranky -- I was sooo tired

They took over an hour... and finally another nurse from the old floor saw me and went in and came to get me... Chris had been wondering where I was :( then i am told he cant wear clothes in there and i can take all that stuff home (this is my breaking point cus i am not carrying a cart full of stuff home at 230am... so i mentioned that i was not able to carry all that and she was nice (i guess..lol) and told me i could leave stuff too

anyways, chris is super sleepy so i said goodbye and went home...got 3 hours of sleep

Thursday morning I was so sleepy driving to my college job fair... then Lew brought Dad, Tommy, and Danny to the hospital.. Chris was sooo happy to see them

Basically, chemo round 2 is on hold because of this infection (woulda started today, but no way now)

They are gonna do a catscan of bowels...

He got blood and platelets today...

Catscan is to make sure there is no puncture or hole in the colon or organs..

The bacteria that went into blood is very sensitive to antibiotics, so over the next bunch of days it should slowly clear up... with his counts all so low, its harder to fight the infection. but there are tons of antibiotics they can "play" with if these dont work.. and hope the catscan is ok...

he clearly shouldnt have surgery now, so a hole or puncture would be bad

I came to see him by 230pm... his fam had just left

I rested next to his bed.. he is tired

Doctors came in and out... His oncologist (Dr Harrison) of this month stopped by...

He told Chris to rest and told me they arent doing the 2nd round of chemo... he said 10 days of recovery instead of 17 (cus they arent doing the 2nd round)... feels this chemo did the trick... he is hopeful that they gave him a "hell of a lot of chemo" and his bone marrow biopsy should hopefully come back good after what he just went through.. now we just have to get him through the infection... and move forward...

this is not going to be easy, he told me everyone loves chris and put his arm around me.. i asked him if he could run into similar bowel issues with the bone marrow chemo he will get before transplant and he said yes.... but we are doing everything we can to make it happen

he is a great doctor... i asked him if he believes in medical miracles... and he looked at me and said that "i have seen them plenty of times... but its not our doing... we do what we can.. and they happen" he winked... and i felt better... i know its just his opinion and best prognosis for now... but as long as i feel better, its comforting...

They all tell me that this infection from chemo is quite common... but poor chris is soooo icky and tired

anyways... they kick you out of ICU everyday for one hour during nurse change over... (7a-8a and 7p -8p) so since i havent slept in 2 days, we decide he needs rest as do i...

I go home... Jeanie and i just drove around and got coffee.. and now i am in a bed at home by 10pm.... sweet...

Lew will be back tomorrow and i am glad its friday! i will get rest tonight..

I will see chris on my way to work tomorrow morning... and then after work

Praying more... Hoping catscan is ok

love you all

God bless you all ... God Bless Chris... and everyone around him.. and the doctors and nurses...

Love you all

Tues November 4th- Election Day into Wednesday

I leave the hospital in the morning and go to work...
Chris calls me mid-morning to inform me of his continuing diareaha... and that Lew is on his way up to the hospital
Lew is bringing their brother Danny and their dad... Chris hasnt seen his dad in about 10 years...

I take an early lunch to go vote... and I stop home for clothes and run to the hospital to drop them off and meet his dad and Danny
I can tell it has been an emotional few hours

Anyways, they leave.... Lew will be back Wednesday to visit again
I watch Chris and his dad hug and there are tears... then I get leaky

I go back to work and finish out my day. I run home and grab clothes. Chris asked that I stay over at the hospital again ... so I pack
I get to the hospital by 7:20 or so... Christine Rapach and her boyfriend also come to visit
Chris is feeling icky
They leave... Chris's nausia, stomach cramps, etc start up...
I am watching election coverage and Chris is just miserable...
His blood pressure is a little low...
I try to get some sleep.. but I can't really sleep...
He is having pain every hour or so...
He is up to go to the bathroom... poor guy feels lik crap
By 5am or so, he is spiking a fever and blood pressure has dropped and heartrate is up to 150...
I have never seen him so uncomfortable...
He is also vomiting... but not much since he hasnt really eaten in 2 days
He is just very nausious.... they cannot give him pain meds and ativan together when the blood pressure is low...
Its Wednesday morning.. I should get ready for work but I decide to re-group and call work
I am signed into work through my laptop at the hospital... We will see how today goes...
The doctors came in (Dr Harrison is funny and very nice.. its the first time I meet the November doctor) He jokes about aliens and whatnot... (had to be here)
He apologizes for the rough night... but tells us this is completely expected.. its a rough chemo he is getting... he will probably have diareaha and nausia and ab cramps for the next 2 weeks .... so as terrible as it is, so far its quite expected and normal... they agree to give him more delautin... he can sleep through this if he wants.. but they tell him he needs to sit up in a chair whenever possible to avoid bed sores... ugh....
Chris's brother Lew is on his way down with brother Tommy to visit... Chris is really happy that Lew flew up to see him and he wants him here so badly.... but he is quite sleepy...
I told Lew to bring some magazines or movies and just let him know how he is doing

Right now, as of 10:30am Wednesday, his temp has gone down to 99.8 (it was 101.5 earlier)
and his blood pressure is holding steady at around 93/40 give or take a few...
It was 84/36 at one point this morning...
His heartrate is at 136... but was as high as 165 earlier...
So I think the extra fluids they put him on is helping with the blood pressure..
The dilaudid ( i should really find the corrrect spelling of this crazy pain killer med) is making his blood pressure a little lower than it could be, His normal is low (100/70-ish) so this isnt that awful.. but its low
Anyways, his blood counts are in... the white blood cells are very low so he is neurtopenic... and his magnesium and potasium are low.. so they are giving him some... platelets are low so they are giving him a platelet transfusion...
He is getting the neuprogen shots that he always gets after chemo, those help bring the white blood cell counts up...
Speaking of platelets... I think he is going to be needing them often for the next few weeks... It takes 12 days or so after the last day of chemo to recover all the blood counts... sooooo
You figure his chemo starts again tomorrow (thursday) and ends Sunday morning...November 21st is the day he should be feeling better... and I think around November 19th or so, we do the bone marrow biopsy again to see (hope) that the chemo worked so we can move forward quickly into transplant

Back to the platelets... I believe some people have voiced interest in donating ... You do not have to be the same blood type to donate platelets... There is a place right here in the hospital and you can donate specifically to Chris... I keep meaning to look into it, but i forget or get sidetracked... There is only a 5-day shelf life, so I think the blood center helps schedule so he doesnt waste any if he were to get too many donors
From what I understand, its similar to giving blood, except they filter out the platelets and return the rest of your blood to you in your other arm,,, Therefore, unlike regular blood donation, you can give again every 2 weeks.

Here is the info for the Blood Center at Robert Wood in case anyone is interested.. I will post more if I get a chance to call soon
Blood Center 4th Floor, Clinical Academic Building125 Paterson Street New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901 (732) 235-8100

Monday November 3rd

I wake up at home early... and I get ready for work
I go see Chris at the hospital first.. he is still sleepy and feeling icky
I go to work...
Around mid-day I get a call from his nurse that he had fallen :(
He hit his head and they did a cat scan... ugh....
Poor Chris.. he wasnt even aware that he had gotten up without calling for help
Throughout the day, they collected another stool sample
Chris had a bad day.. sounded sad, bummed, frustrated, etc
SO, I went home after work, showered, grabbed work clothes just in case.... and I headed to hospital
Chris doesnt look bruised like I feared but he is sooo uncomfortable...
THey moved him to the middle of the floor by the nurses' desk so they can keep a better eye on him...
He just wants the cramping tummy to stop and he wants the diareaha to stop
The night nurse changes his thigh bandage and there is so much damn tape that it rips hair off.. he is freaking
Then I found out that they biopsied his jock itch during the day.. she had to clean it and it burns like hell.. they had scraped some off during the day.. its raw.. and I feel so bad for him...
THen the anti-nausia meds arent helping.. he hasnt eaten
Finally, he eats half of a pb & j sandwich my mom made at home... tried some tea...
Then, he needs the bathroom.. its so painful... the strong tech helps him walk and all that...
He is finally having some relief... then the cramping and discomfort come back...
They give him his dilaudid and he is feeling better
Oh, did I mention his new cell came in the mail today? he is excited about that
Lew has safely landed in NJ and will be visiting tomorrow (Tuesday)
I am sleeping at the hospital to keep an eye on Chris... Not sure how early I will leave tomorrow cus I have to vote but we will see
Prayers again tonight
PS Thanks to Aunt Cathy for the Boosts, to Jeanie, Brian, Liv, Mr and Mrs Cody for the Starbucks gift card.. that will come in so handy for Chris's addiction... to Carol for the healing mass... to Christine for dinner and cookies.. and everyone else who has been sending cards and stuff.... love you all...

Sunday November 2nd

I woke up at home.. very well rested
And, got myself together... showered..
My dad wanted to see Chris, so he brought my mom with him even though she was going to go later with my cousin Gina...
So, I stopped at Starbucks, the usual...
Chris was getting cleaned up by the awesome nurse he had - Sonya.. she is actually from the Cancer Institute.. she works with Dr Strair... she cleaned him... re-bandaged the biopsyed area on his thigh... and his groin irritation (jock itch)...
Mom, dad, and me hung with him for a while..
Then, they left and Chris and I relaxed....
Christine Rabbath came by.. she took me to lunch and we stopped to get Chris lunch on the way home...
However, Chris started with some major diareaha (sorry for the details) Its most likely from chemo... he is now unsettled... But he manages to eat half his lunch/dinner
Christine also baked him cookies... her recipe... he LOVED them
So now he has his own batch yummmy...
They cannot give him Immodium because they have to test the stool to make sure he doesnt have C-Diff... ugh
anyways, christine and my bro eventually lose... my dallas cowboys lose to the giants.. i am depressed...
Chris is sleepy again at a pretty early time...
He feels crappy from the diareaha.. I decide I should go home and rest at home for the night so he can rest too..
The night nurse comes.. she wont give him his Ativan and Dilaudid cus its too early or his bp is too low for both... Chris is annoyed.. she has to wait til 930 or so to come back with his night pills.. its only 730 or 8 pm and he wants to sleep
Eventually, he relaxes and I leave
Jeanie gets me Starbucks and comes over to hang with me...
Chris calls me to tell me he got a text from his brother Lew's girlfriend Jen... he thinks they are engaged...
So, he it too loopy to call and find out... he told me he had gotten up and needed meds so they finally gave them to him...
I texted Jen and Lew finally proposed after having the ring since June!!!
Yay!!! There will be 2 Jennifer Waxmonskys
Lew is flying to NJ to see Chris tomorrow (Monday)
I get a good nights rest.....