Friday - July 25th

Chris continues to get a bit stronger every day, with increased weight, increased stamina and less nausea. While she is still very weak compared to what she started out at, she does exercise daily with walks, stretching, and some light weights. Her personal trainer now comes to the house twice a week and gives her a series of exercises that she does daily. She is very tired after these circuits, but she knows they are helping. The good news (for me) is that the personal trainer is a 50 year old woman, not the stud I was worried about.

Chris is up to 105 pounds, some of which is edema. Nevertheless she is clearly gaining weight and being much more active. Her blood pressure is still very low and she is on many medications for this, antibiotics, nausea, etc. She is starting to really detest this constant potpourri of pills, but she has no choice.

There are two issues she is struggling with. She is not sleeping well at all and is now in the habit of waking up almost every night for a few hours. She falls asleep quickly, usually wakes up around 2 or 3 am, and then sleeps again until morning. We are not sure if this is due to the medication, too long of a nap in the afternoon or just what. She is dealing with it, but it does mess up her daily rhythm a bit. My guess is that she is going downstairs ans secretly watching watching season 9 of Friends.

The other issue is one that concerns me much more, and that is a general feeling of depression that she still feels. I spoke to the medical team about that, and they indicate that this is not unusual, particularly in women (sorry, I'm just quoting). Chris occasionally feels like a "victim" or asks the question "what did I do to serve this?" During these low periods, she feels less energetic, less mentally sharp, and sleeps often (typical of course). This may be compounding the sleepless nights.

This week we will get her up to the lake house in NH where she will be able to really relax and not worry about the stresses around the house. I know she is anxious to get up there, but we needed to make sure the ride was ok and she did not have serious nausea.

Overall she is still very frail, but without a doubt she continues getting better and better. We will work on mental state and get her enjoying the rest of the summer. Abby leaves for school in 4 weeks, so it will be important that she knows Chris is doing well.

The calls and cards are greatly appreciated, they mean a great deal to Chris, so thank you.

Finally to the mystery e-mailer who sent the attached picture - please identify yourself.

Upward Trajectory - Sunday, July 20

After a week of delayed updates about Chris, I am well overdue to the many many people who have expressed their support, love, and prayers for Chris. My apologies.

The news is good, in fact I believe very good, although she may not agree. Over the last seven days, she has:
- gained 6 pounds
- walked every day about 3 or 4 times for 15 minutes or so up and down our driveway (with an incline)
- had an actual appetite to the point of asking for seconds. She has a complete bagel, some fruit, OJ, and toast for breakfast usually, and a complete, albeit light, lunch and dinner. A few times this past week she ate so much that she complained about being completely full.
- She has had some relatively good energy and can talk on the phone with a strong voice.
- The most telling indicator of progress was when she lit in to me for about 3 minutes for pushing multi-vitamins (which she is supposed to take), saying she is tired of me telling her what to do and to let her make her "own damn decisions". Now that is the Chris we know and love.

So overall, some real good forward progress in the last week. But to be honest, there have been a few bumps. She still has the swelling in her legs, her blood pressure is still very low, and occasionally she stills feels nauseous. These have all improved or stayed the same. The bigger issue is her occasional sadness or depression. She sometimes has bouts of feeling very down, mostly due to frustration that she doesn't have the energy or the drive that she would like, as well as the feeling of not knowing what will be the end result of all of this (we will not find out until December). Her sister Debbie and I have tried to be good coaches, supporters, encouragers, and for the most part she is positive. Yet, she has really had some down moments.
We were told to expect some of this, and she knows any negativity is in conflict with all the positive vibes she has received from an incredible array of friends and supporters. She has heard from high school friends from her years in Belgium, she has heard from friends of friends, and she has been in the prayers of literally hundreds of places of worship around the world. She truly knows how many people are fighting this with her and when she is reminded of that, it really turns her around.

We met with her primary care physician ("family doctor" for those outside the US), and she hardly recognized Chris since she had last seen her back in May. Twenty-five pounds, no muscle mass, and no hair will really change a person. Yet, her doctor gave her some really good words of encouragement and prescribed a home Physical Therapist to start getting Chris back into shape. Chris can't go to the gym or even yoga class due to too much risk of infection. Thus a visiting physical therapist will be coming to the house. I never thought I'd be happy that a young stud with bulging muscles give my wife a private workout session, but hey, if that's what it takes to get her back into shape, I'm all for it (I think).

This coming week will be a transition from a very sedentary week of staying low, to one of being more active, increasing the frequency and length of walking (hopefully the high school track), seeing more visitors, and doing some things around the house that she enjoys, e.g. gardening, maybe some simple cooking, and reading. She did listen to a book on tape from my aunt and that worked out very well.

It is nice to be home. I have been working at my home office and that sure saves on the commuting time. More importantly Chris is much more comfortable at home. As well, it is easier to care for her at home, although maybe that is simply because she is doing so much better. I will associate the Boston apartment with daily routines of cleaning up vomit and other things, (e.g. hair), and things are much less messier nowadays.

So overall, things are clearly going in the right direction. We need to get her out of her occasional funk, and that will come in time as she gets more energy, gets back into her routine, and gets some time up in New Hampshire.

I can't tell you how much the support you all have provided has been. The phone calls, the notes, the flowers, the dinners, and more importantly the prayers and good wishes remain beyond belief. Just reading the blog shows you care.
Thanks to all.

I'll provide another update on Chris next weekend, if not earlier, but until then, please know she is doing better and better each and every day.