Day -4

Today was a rainy and cold day in Chicago. 

I arrived at 10:00 am at Nico's room and found him sitting in the easy chair, just finishing his breakfast. He had a good night and was able to sleep for about 6h. Why did I worry? Here is the picture of the day:

One thing I did not mention in my post yesterday: Nico had a lot of trouble emptying his bladder after the Lasix kicked in, so he opted to get a catheter. He was really worried before hand that this would happen, but as it turned out, this was actually a good decision. This takes away so much stress for him and he gets to sleep rather than running to the bathroom every 5 min. Although the whole thing sounds horrible, but he seemed to have had a good time with the nurses... he was making jokes and everybody was laughing. It took 3 nurses to get the job done(?!). 
This is his program for today:

And here the selection of the goodies, it looks almost like a Christmas tree:

We had a rather relaxing day and enjoyed 4h of Crossroad Guitar Festival 2010 on the big screen TV. 

I am so amazed how well he deals with the chemo. I was really worried after I saw him during his first round of mobilization chemo. He got so week as the day progressed, but now he is so well together. 

He loves everything here at the hospital. You could think he is on vacation and not going through chemo therapy. The steroids make him very hungry and he loves to order food from the hospital kitchen. The service here is really fantastic. All the nurses are really nice and you can tell they are enjoying what they do. The lady delivering the food gave Nico the inside scoop on the food ordering process. Make sure to ask for the day's special and if you would like a snack, there is ice cream stocked for you, just ask for it. 

Today's special: Spinach Ravioli. Dessert: Turtle Brownie Parfait.

I walked over to the Cafeteria at Galter/Feinberg Building. There is a place called Au Bon Pain. They make delicious sandwiches and have a wide selection of fresh pastries. Nico's and my favorite is the Grilled Chicken Breast and Avocado sandwich.

  
And for dessert:

What is really nice here at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, all the buildings are connected via enclosed bridges on the 2nd floor. This makes it possible that you can walk several blocks in the inner city on a rainy day as today without getting wet.

Here you see nurse Briana starting another IV - 8h of rATG. This usually means Nico will fall asleep from the premeds (Tylenol, Benadryl and Prednisolon).

He wanted to sit in the easy chair for a while, so we switch places. The bed is so comfortable!

We are so thankful for this treatment. It has already changed our lives in so many ways. For all of you who knew Nico before he got sick - the old Nico is coming back! He is transforming from a grumpy old man to a funny, talkative and charming young person. His quick wit makes all the people who meet him smile. It is just amazing!