second door on the right...

Kev is home! The temperature has kept itself in check so far.. reached 100 once or twice, but nothing to brag about. He had breakfast today, and apparently dad is really good at making protein shakes for lunch. His medication list is not as long as the last trip home, but the kitchen counter still looks like a Frat house full of ugly boys who need help "meeting" girls.

His strength is still a bit low, but he is walking a lot better than when we first got our hands on him. He is also really pale, not like that kid in the movie 'Powder'.. it's more like the hungover pale you get after drinking any tequila. Tomorrow is a big day we're going to Cunnyngham in the morning, then dad's gonna hang a ceiling fan in Kev's room. Kev's room is the second door on the right down the hall and is where he spends most of his time. For precautionary measures we put a doorbell in his room so he get any one's attention at anytime, should he need some assistance.

The boo and friends plan on hanging out tomorrow night to entertain him, which is good since Kev really only seems comfortable when girls are around him.

coming home

Hello everybody! It's me, Mark, the Dad. As I sat today at Kevin's bedside, eating a doughnut, that I dribbled down the front of my black shirt, I thought I would try my hand at blogging, something I know nothing about.

I arrived at the hospital at 9:07 a.m. After circling the parking lot 17 times, I finally found a spot. I thought about putting a number on Kev's Jeep, slapping a Geisinger decal on the hood, and becoming a Nascar driver for the day!

When I got to Kev's room he looked better today than yesterday, although still very tired. His team of doctors arrived and we received great news! His vitals were good and his white blood cell count was up to nearly normal, which means he will probably came home. Speaking of doctors, his mom, his brother and myself could not be more satisfied that Kev is getting the absolute best care possible. The nursing staff is the best...none better. You don't know how good that makes us feel.

I just wanted to let you all know how grateful we are for your thoughts, prayers, cards, e-mails, texts, and comments, and also how personally lucky I am for having been blessed with a great family. A wonderful, caring wife and 2 great sons who
someday will be paying all of our bills while we lounge on the beach in Hawaii, sipping drinks with those little umbrella's in them.

We are all looking forward to the day Kevin is once again jet-setting around the world in places I've never heard of.

Once again, Thank you each and every one for your concern and support.

Sincerely,
Mark

Hat Trick

Kev got news today that his white count was up and the doctor said they are gonna keep him another 24 hours to be certain, then maybe he can come home. That was around 10:17 in the a.m. (eastern standard time) Kev felt pretty good in the morning as he got out of bed and sat, in what has become known as the worst chair in the world. Picture a 1972 two tone green ford pinto with a brown hood, driven by an elderly couple with the blinker on and they are noticeably arguing because he has gas... you are stuck behind them and are very late that scenario is this chair! But after that, Kev was quite unproductive.

He still has no appetite and I thinks it's because he is filled on pills... he doesn't even ask what they are anymore. About 6pm, Kev pulled the Hat Trick and got himself another fever. The doctor's pulled blood when last two occurred and even did a chest xRay, but found nothing out of the ordinary. With this in mind, it was determined the fevers could be attributed to the cancer coming back a bit. (Normal and Expected)

After that, all was well until Heather showed up with her pumpkin cookies, shortly there after, kev became pretty ill. I would say he got sick as a dog, but I never heard a dog make noises like that. It was more like the sound an elephant would make if he had a popcorn kernel stuck to the roof of his mouth as he moaned because he had to sneeze, burp, and fart at the same time. It was a rough half hour or so, but thanks to Nurse Ann, he got his color back and was back in ready to rest up for his trip home... again keep'm crossed.

beat the heat

Kev can leave the Hospital once his white blood cells are up... today the doctors told him his count was lower today than yesterday. This isn't out of the ordinary and PA Ron Grimm (not part of the famous 'the brothers grimm')said he should be up and ready in a day or two. Kev may be spending the weekend at home. Depending on his counts/ levels, his treatment for next week may be postponed, but that would be a good thing so he could have an extra day at home with Ma's cooking and he needs the food. The hospital food they serve, would make a Nun feel like she is being punished. They tried to serve Kev something that resembled chicken that got in a fight with some half cooked scrambled eggs. It was so bad Dad had to spit it in the garbage!!! (Dad does NOT waste food!!)

Somewhere after the dinner debacle, Kev spiked another fever, 102.5 which is the average high temperature in Tucson, AZ in the month of July... crazy! Like the last spike, some tylenol and a quick nap with Ma... gone.

There was a terrific highlight to Kev's day, when he received a book from his girls in Orlando (sharon and lauren) entitled, "everybody poops". It was great read that compliments the little guy that poops that Pat and Lou brought the day before. (video to come at a later date).

by the by, If Kev has not returned any calls or emails please do not be alarmed. He is so weak at the moment, just taking a drink is a chore. So just keep your fingers crossed that his counts are up and he beats the heat so my brother can come home for the weekend.

new buzz...

Kev is still in the Hospital with no signs of leaving. His spiked temperature scare has kept him under the watchful of Larry ( the physicians assistant who will be halloweening as a scarecrow this year ). Kev's white blood cell count is pretty low still, rendering him very weak and tired. Dad is on duty this week and drug kev for a walk up and down 'the hall'. ('the hall' to Kev is the equivialant of a non-neutropenic climbing a mountain on one leg). Kev also made the efforts to shower for the first time in quite a while and came out of the bathroom looking like a stray dog in tijuana. This made Mom a bit uneasy when she saw her son in bed with a hairdo that could have been done by a wild cougar. Of course talk of buzzing it came out and within hours Nurses entered ready to shave. There was brief showing of a mowhawk ( see photos on site ) and some laughter, mostly from the onlookers!

The good news is Kev looks pretty darn good with a shaved head and his bed no longer looks as if there are stray cats sleeping with him at night. He also strikingly resembles a mixture of our cousin Keith, our Uncle George, and Dad. (all good looking gentlemen )

p.s. there was a nurse today who thought Dad was Kev's brother ... for those who don't know Dad... she was joking!!

heated up!

Since the unexpected check-in to the 8th floor, Kev has found himself quite drained and unmotivated. Although we found the remote, the TV seems to only have one channel (The Food Channel) we've watched every episode thrice! If anyone can find the recipe for the BBQ chicken biscuits that took 5th place at the National Chicken Cooking competition, Kev would really like it.

The weekend was quite uneventful until Kev spiked a 101.5 temperature (36 celsius for those across the water). If Kev were a dog this would not have been a problem since 101.5 is the normal body temperature of an adult dog, but we know Kev is not a dog. We were told to have Kev admitted within 60 minutes upon discovery of a temperature above 100, luckily he was admitted 32 hours prior so a little tylenol brought things back to normal.

Another side update, Dad (a.k.a. Road Dawg) successfully returned from Orlando with Kev's jeep and belongings. It took , one breakfast buffet, a comfortable night at the Interstate Inn, and a mere 17hours to get home. He made it just in time to check Kev's temperature with a highly technical ear-mometer. (It was like watching little kid trying to poke the straw through a capri-sun... hilarious!)