Monday, September 6, Labor day. I did labor for a few hours and then went home to prepare for (making game food,) BSU's opening game against Virginia Tech. Bobby came over and watched the very exciting game with us. BSU won!!

Wednesday the 8th was a scheduled chemo day and a meeting with Dr. Eisenberg. We expected to hear that this would be the last day of chemo and thought the next step was to focus on radiation therapy. As it turned out, the lab work from the previous day was incomplete so Bobby couldn't have chemo that day , he would have it on Thursday, and Dr. Eisenberg said Bobby would need one more infusion after that. He said that he and the radiation oncologist had talked and that he would probably start radiation in October, after he's had a little time to recover from the chemo. Any other questions we had regarding duration, side effects, etc. would have to wait. He did have to go to the hospital to get the lab work done that was missing and Dr. Eisenberg ordered an ultrasound on his right arm as he's been having some issues with what the doctor suspected were blood clots. The ultrasound confirmed a blood clot and advised him to use hot compresses and take advil.

David went to Bobby's chemo session on Thursday. I joined them as soon as I got off work then the three of us went to lunch at one of the local organic places, Cafe Gratitude. It's one of the restaurants that Bobby feels is "safe" for him. Meaning it's all organic, no meat or dairy products, no processed sugar.......and other things I'm probably leaving out. The food is good and satisfying. The restaurant has an interesting atmosphere (haven't seen a similar one in Kuna :)). Their focus is on being grateful. All the dishes have names like "I am Festive", I am Creative", I am Grateful", "I am ___________", you get the idea. Can't argue with the sentiment of being grateful. We've learned a lot (Bobby already knew much of this) about the role of nutrition in cancer prevention and treatment. And we've all learned about being grateful.

We had planned on a long hike on Friday but Bobby didn't feel as well as expected so he came over and we just hung out at the apartment. His arm was still bothering him and by the next afternoon the clot was larger and seemed to have moved up on his arm so on the advice of Dr. Eisenberg, he went to the emergency room for another scan. Six hours later (very busy place on a Saturday night), they had given him a shot and finally sent him home. Sunday morning Dr. Eisenberg called him into the office to follow up on the lab results. He said it was a good thing he had gone to the emergency room and he would need to give himself shots twice a day for the next 10 days. Along with everything else we are learning, we are learning about the multitude of issues that cancer patients face while going through treatment...it's not just nausea and hair loss. We pray for strength for Bobby and for others going through treatment.

"In the day when I cried out, You answered me, And made me bold with strength in my soul." Psalm 138:3