Sunday Update

Good afternoon! I wanted to give everyone who reads this another update. I now have 8 treatments completed and 22 to go. This coming Tuesday will be 1/3 of the way complete. The following Tuesday will be half-way! 

So far I am doing well. The meeting with the dietitian on Thursday went well. She told me how many calories and grams of protein I need to aim for each day. She said that I am doing well with what I've been doing so far, and she will check in later this week to see if I'm maintaining my weight (I've gained 2 pounds since my consult). If so, I may not have to meet with her again. Luckily for me, I have a few friends who are dietitians and I can ask them for information as well (thanks!). If I can maintain my weight, I will have less of a chance for needing a feeding tube.

I am feeling pretty good. If I feel like this the entire time I will be very thankful. I've been able to do pretty much everything I usually do.  Nikki and I have hung out with friends, gone to church, and I have been able to work each day. I even played in my team's basketball game Saturday (we won- now we are 4-2). I was told I may lose my sense of taste in the next week and get dry mouth. So far I have my taste still, which is great! My mouth is getting more dry and my throat feels tight off and on. I feel pretty good, but with these few issues starting, it does get concerning when I think that I still have 22 treatments to go. Otherwise, I'm doing pretty well.

Nikki and I tried to go out to eat on Friday night for Valentine's Day, but traffic was horrible because of the snow, and the restaurant had an hour wait. We are tired of sitting around waiting at the hospital every day, so we didn't want to wait for dinner. We ordered Outback Steakhouse to go and ate it at home while watching The Butler (good movie). 

We want to thank everyone who is keeping us in their prayers and keeping us encouraged. We really appreciate it. It does make a difference, so please keep it up! Also, thanks for the cards. As you can see below, we have quite a collection. We love reading each one. It's a good visual of all of the people thinking about us. 

The wall of cards and the treatment chain

If you want to pray specifically for anything, here you go:

• Praise God I am doing very well so far!
• Pray that I won't lose all of my taste and that my mouth doesn't get uncomfortably dry.
• Pray that we stay encouraged and get enough rest to stay positive throughout this.
• Finally, continue to pray that the negative side effects of the radiation will be very mild, very few, and very temporary. (I don't want a feeding tube!!)

Thanks everyone!
Aaron & Nikki

Riley napping today