Sometimes you just feel . . .

Helpless! Even when you have a mask, cape and kick-butt boots!

Ashley is attending Aveda's cosmetology school. She started in October and has been loving every minute of it! She is doing really well! She took a leave of absence last week, and they will allow her to postpone her studies while she goes with Robert wherever the bone marrow transplant takes them. She and Robert decided that for the next 5-6 weeks she should keep attending school. She goes to school Tuesday through Saturday from 8:00-5:00. I talked to her this evening and she said that school went well, but it was hard to leave this morning knowing that he wasn't feeling well! She's wishing that the sidekick was allowed to fight the war, or at least most of the battles in a superhero duo, but alas it just doesn't work that way!

Robert did have a better night last night. He woke up twice, but was able to go right back to sleep with a little help from pain meds. His fever stayed down most of the night too. He had a cat scan and a chest x-ray today, but they didn't show anything that would be causing him pain. They are pretty sure it is just an infection so they are hoping the antibiotics they have him on will take care of it. His fever was up to 102 at noon today, so he got more Tylenol and he gets his pain meds as needed right now. The good news is that RobDob is really funny on pain medication!

Then there are the sometimes you just feel like . . . Laughing!

During his stay at the hospital in Tucson he told Ashley one day just after receiving meds that, "my pain is like a rolled out carpet!" When she pressed him a little further to see if he needed more than the meds he had just received, and to see if she could understand exactly what that meant Robert only said it again! When he was off the medications later he didn't remember saying it, and didn't have a clue what he possibly could have meant with that comparison.

On Saturday February 7 when they put in his pick line (his more permanent I.V.) they gave him a pain medication that is similar to morphine, but doesn't last as long. Robert turned to Ashley with a big ole' grin and said, "I think I'm high!"
"Ya think?" was Ashley's reply.
Alycia Ashworth and her boyfriend Jake stopped by a little later for a visit and they played a game of UNO. Robert kept laying down the wrong cards, so Ashley was helping him with his hand. Apparently Robert was getting a good look at Ashley's cards as well. Just before her final turn to win the game he laid down his 'draw four' and changed the color from the blue she needed to red, and told her to grab four cards!
"So that's the thanks I get for helping you, huh?" she asked.
Robert quickly quipped, "I play to WIN!" With that same big grin on his face!

We'll hope for another funny story as long as Robert is on pain meds! :)

As for myself I know a little of that helpless feeling too! It feels like all I can do is pray! Robert and Ashley want to thank everyone who is praying for them! They felt the prayers through the last round with leukemia, and definitely feel their strength now! So thank you, and keep the prayers coming!