what to do.....

Jen finished her first cycle of chemotherapy yesterday... she won't have any more chemo until either late January or early February. Hurray! Now we just have to wait for her female pattern baldness to kick in. The rest of this month she'll still be on ATRA, so you can pray that she won't have as bad of headaches as she has had previously (headaches are the most common side-effect of ATRA). The doctors will keep on monitoring her various blood cell levels, and do all that fancy doctor stuff that I've threatened to attempt if Jen doesn't behave (that usually straightens her out).
I think my biggest concern for Jen now is that she will get very bored being trapped in the hospital. If you can think of anything fun to do in the hospital (that won't get anyone killed or in trouble) feel free to post your ideas on this comment. We already have a stack of DVDs, a deck of cards, and a few board games... but maybe we could use some suggestions that are a little bit less conventional.
Oh, and my winning streak lives on... Vive le Roi (me)
I should probably also mention that the inlaws (to be) managed to find a place within walking distance from the hospital that is significantly less ridiculously priced than camping out in the hotel.
Jen enjoys reading notes and messages from all of you, so keep it coming. As I said in the first post, you can send a message to my email address, colinzimmerman@gmail.com with the subject "To Jen" or something similar enough for me to understand and I will make sure Jen gets them in a timely manner.
Oh, and I don't have Jen's cell anymore, her parents will have that now.... I'm using my dad's old cell, so if you know that number go ahead and call it, or email me and ask for it... I just don't want to post it online. The number for her ward is shown in the first post near the bottom, so if you can't get a hold of us via email you can call that instead.
If you would like to make a visit please call before showing up... usually it's not a problem but we've had a few disappointed visitors who happened to show up when Jen was in a drug-enduced hibernation. Also, if you have a cold, runny nose, flu, or anything like that, do not come to visit. Jen has basically no white blood cells right now, which means she effectively has no immune system. If you're sick, your absense means more than a visit, because if Jen catches a bug, she'll get put on all kinds of intense antibiotics which have nasty side effects.... so please spare her the suffering. She's not going anywhere, so please wait until you're better. The rest of the patients in the unit would appreciate it too.
As always, no fresh flowers/fruits/veggies, but feel free to send cards, notes, or really anything else (within reason... I'm looking at you roommate...)
But I have to end this now.... it's time to grab some more of Jen's stuff to take back up to Edmonton.
Until next time,
-Colin