Food

So I guess I should start where I left off on the last post...
They hung Clint's first dose of Cyclophosphamide Monday night around 11:30 pm, so needless to say Monday was a very long night with a lot of interruptions. Clint got very little sleep since he had to get up about every hour to pee thanks to all the fluids they pumped into him. So yesterday he was pretty tired. I don't think it helped that his white blood count jumped to 54,000 with 56% blasts, I am sure that didn't help with his energy level :( They started the Clofarabine yesterday around 6 and did the Cyclophosphamide around 8:30 so he was done a lot earlier than the previous night so that was good. I think he was actually able to get some sleep last night so he woke up this morning feeling pretty good, yeah!
So far he is tolerating the chemo really well. And his counts only went up a tiny bit today (55000 wbc with 60% blasts) so the doctors are very hopeful that the chemo is working. Hopefully his counts will start coming down in the next day or so. We were able to go for a walk outside today which is always nice, although it does get a little sketchy pushing his IV pole around some of these old, cracked sidewalks :) But I think it was really good for him to get some fresh air and some exercise (he didn't get out of bed much yesterday).
And now to the exciting stuff.....He is actually eating solid foods again! WooHoo! He got moved up to the GVH1 diet yesterday, which pretty much consists of a few cereals (cream of wheat or rice, rice krispies, cheerios) some starches (white bread, plain bagel, mashed potatoes, saltines, etc.) and some fruits (applesauce, banana, or canned peaches or pears). He could only get one new thing to try, then he had to wait 3-4 hours to make sure it settled well, and then he could try one other new food plus the food he'd already tried. So yesterday he had cheerios (with soy milk because he can't have milk products, which surprisingly he liked:) for lunch and then for dinner he had cheerios and a banana. So today he got moved to the GHV2 diet, which included all the GVH1 stuff plus some proteins like chicken, salmon, turkey, eggs and a few different crackers and veggies. He had a hard boiled egg with a bagel and some pretzels for lunch and a chicken breast and applesauce for dinner. So far his stomach is holding up really well so tomorrow he should be able to advance to the low microbial diet, which is pretty much his normal diet. He is pretty excited because for some reason all he has wanted since he hasn't been able to eat is some chocolate donettes (from the vending machine) and Dr. Hoda told him that tomorrow he can have those donuts. So he has something to look forward to in the morning :)
Hopefully we will be able to go home on Saturday! At least for a couple days before the next chemo is due. As long as he continues to tolerate the chemo well and is able to start eating enough calories to get off the TPN then we should definitely be able to leave Saturday. Can't wait to spend a couple days at home with the boys, we sure miss them!
Thanks again for all the prayers & thoughts, we both feel them and need them!
Love you all! Goodnight!