Gearing Up for Chemo

B was released as the Bishop of our ward today. Just in time for treatment. Five days from now B will be injected with an infusion of poison. Three sessions of R-CHOP and some radiation over the next four months. The cure seems worse than the problem. His white blood cell count will drop and he will be vulnerable to virus and bacteria. We bought enough masks. alcohol wipes and sanitizer to equip a small hospital. The tumor on B's neck has grown back. It seems to grow by the hour. He remains cheerful, filling our home with his contagious laughter. Friday he had two needles that resembled my mother's knitting needles driven into his hip bone for a bone marrow biopsy. Wednesday he will have a PET scan which will require radioactive material coursing through his veins to route out any other cancer lurking there undetected. If one were just using blood work to diagnose illness, B is a picture of health. It's rather frightening really to consider these tumors silently eating up your body without any symptom. The oncologist said eventually they show up. Eventually? How reassuring! Some of the literature I have been reading suggests that since 1942 they know that cancer cannot grow in an alkaline environment.  I guess this discovery if correct and if heeded could crash the world economy.  Cancer's big business! So B and I bought some PH paper - I tested my saliva every few hours today just to see how alkaline I am. I forgot to test B's for comparison. So we await the treatment. Not quite like waiting for a wonderful trip or a baby or a wedding. We prepare best from our knees. Hold on tight B, the bumpy road starts soon.