[Al's Wife]

Patti,

I hope things go okay for you and Dean today with his first treatment of Dacogen. I remember so well Al's first day with Vidaza. We learned he had MDS on Wednesday, May 26, 2010, and he began Vidaza that next Monday. They would not let me stay in the treatment room and I had to leave him. I leaned down and kissed him and when I got to the doorway, I turned around and he looked so lost and scared sitting there. I went down the hall and burst out crying. Thank goodness he didn't see me. One of the nurses took me into a room and sat there with me, and she was so sweet and caring and took the time to explain things to me.
Now over two years later, looking back, our life has certainly taken on a new norm but we have learned to laugh again and rejoice in each day.
We are waiting now for a call from our local oncologist as Al (who never has a temperature) started running a fever yesterday and developed a deep cough. Even though we are scheduled for Moffitt on Wednesday, I wanted his regular doctor to check him and we'll probably get labs drawn. I'm always so anxious to see those numbers, but I'm sure they are not going to be good this time. I'm just praying that we are still going to be able to go to Moffitt on Wednesday.
Try to stay strong, and I'll do the same. Hang in there and keep the faith. I'll post later and I'm sure you'll do the same to let us know how you and Dean did today. Good luck.
HUGS,