Merry Christmas! Our holiday has been quiet and beautiful. I hope you are enjoying your day, however you chose to spend it. Today especially I am grateful for the journey we are on and the people standing with us. These trials have taught us a lot about life and...

On the First Day of Christmas, my neighbor gave to me a partridge in a pear tree. On the Second Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me two turtle doves. On the Third Day of Christmas, my neighbor gave to me three French toasts. On the Fourth...

Tate finished his 7-day course of steroids yesterday, and he said they made him feel terrible. They weaken his body all over while simultaneously preventing him from sleeping and messing with his emotions; he’s physically and mentally exhausted. Tate had an appointment with the nurse practitioner this morning; the...

At Wednesday’s appointment, Tate got Vincristine, Doxorubicin, and Erwinia shots and was cleared to begin the 7-day course of steroids.  Tate’s ANC is down to 297 from 3500 last week, which came as a surprise.  I was not expecting that number to drop so far so fast.  (When am...

Within the first few days of his cancer treatment, Tate developed Tumor lysis, a common and potentially fatal condition for patients with lymphomas and leukemia.  Tumor lysis occurs when large amounts of cancer cells are killed and spill into the bloodstream, causing the kidneys to work beyond capacity.  When...

Today’s appointment went very well.  Tate had to get Erwinia shots and nothing else.  This Wednesday he has an appointment with the oncologist and will get Vincristine and Doxorubicin through his port and Erwinia shots, and he will begin a second 7-day course of steroids.  Tate dreads the steroids...

Tate is doing really well today.  He was able to ride to the clinic without his noise-cancelling headphones on, and he has been in good spirits.  As of today he has only 8 more appointments for Erwinia shots. . . ever!  We are easing into a hopefully uneventful weekend. ...

Last week’s 50% dose of Vincristine hit Tate pretty hard.  Too hard.  His light and sound sensitivities increased almost immediately, and his head started to hurt again.  He didn’t feel that his nephropathy had been impacted much.  The Nurse Practitioner Angela decided to consult with his doctor before clearing...

We, at The Daily Dwayne, are going to depart from the normal updates our readers have come to enjoy and boldly allow a non-English major (who studied geography of all things) to have his crack at the typewriter; his 15 seconds of fame if you will. That said, The...

Tate declared he wanted to wear “all cats” to his appointment today.  He chose a kitten Christmas sweater and Garfield pajama bottoms.  The blanket we brought has a gigantic cat working a pepperoni pizza turntable.  (It’s a spectacular blanket.)  All cats! Today Tate got Erwinia injections (3 at a...