The mouth sores are finally gone! It has been a painful and stressful two weeks. First, it was sores on his tongue then dry mouth. When he used the mouthwash that the doctors prescribed he would get temporary relief only to have increased pain when the numbness wore off. Dry mouth then gave way to over productive salivary glands. For several days Alex was chewing on a washcloth constantly. Then the sores inside his mouth started and those were painful. The painkillers made him loopy so he refused to take them. After days of shaved ice, popsicles. milkshakes and bland noodles, Alex has been eating up a storm of pizza, spicy chicken wings, barbeque ribs, cheesecake, and much more for the last 3 days!

We went in for blood counts today as the next round of chemo was supposed to start tomorrow. It was the first time in months that Alex went to the hospital without getting nauseated and sick. The nurses instantly commented on how well he looked. The blood counts showed his neutrophil level was too low to begin chemo so we will wait a few days before doing blood counts again. Although we would have liked to get the next phase over with asap, it's nice that Alex has a few more days off while he is feeling so good. He has lost a bit of weight so maybe he can put a few pounds back on in the next couple of days.

In the last few days, he and I have watched Season 5 of Top Chef and all 10 episodes of Top Chef Masters. We are having a great time watching TV (actually the computer) together.