[milliken2]

Patti;
I am so sorry Dean is going through this, but I can tell you - you are certainly not alone. Earl has been on a downhill slide as well. He started his 5th session of Dacogen on Monday, but like Dean - is very weak, tired, and has no appetite. He is not fond of the Boost/Ensure at all, but now he has mouth ulcers, and he can't really chew. I am going to make some pudding today, and use the Boost as the milk portion - and hope it works - then hope he eats it.
I know Earl gets the Neulasta every Monday after his Friday of chemo. It does really tend to make his bones/joints hurt, so I give him arthritis strength Tylenol before we go.
Regarding your labs - are they done at the hema/onc's office or at your local hospital? For us, Earl has to have labs drawn twice a week - and the difference between the hema/onc lab and the hospital lab was great - the hospital labs I feel are much more accurate since they have a regular centrifuge there and the blood really gets spun out like it should. I don't know if you have been in the hema/onc lab - but there they draw one tube of blood - and it gets placed on a small see saw like board - that goes back and forth for a few minutes - then it is put in another machine - and the results come out right away. A regular hospital blood draw will take 45 minutes for it all to be centrifuged (spun VERY fast) and separated. The hema/onc lab gets the results within 5 minutes. Too - check with your insurance. I know Earl's insurance covers hospital labs completely - but if we have it done at a 'clinic' as the hema/onc's lab is considered - it's a $15.00 co-pay - so for that it would cost us an additional $120.00 a month. Not that we can't afford it - but I feel much more confident in hospital equipment.
Good Luck to You Both.

Beth