I always win...... seriously

An update you say? Yes indeed!

Not as much to comment on this time, and a lot less techno-medical babble... but an update none the less.
Jen was very happy to hear from all of you, and through the magic of temporary memory she was able to read the last post and all of your comments - which is a good thing because I was too dumb to just save the blog/comments on the computer in a text file.... God bless temporary memory.
Anyways, no one cares about my technical issues/flukes. On to Jen...
As can be expected (so I've been told) Jen has had some ups and downs with the chemotherapy, ATRA, and all that jazz.... one minute she's just dandy - sitting up without any help, losing at Clue, you name it.. - next minute she's on her back with a killer headache and/or nausea. Hard to believe that this stuff will make her feel better. I won't lie, some days have not been easy for anyone involved, Jen, her parents, our families, and myself (but I try not to let on... don't tell Jen)... but on the bright side, some days are fantastic. Just today I came to the hospital to find Jen sitting in the sitting area outside of the unit, chatting away with her roommate (from Camrose). I proceeded to sit with them, chat away also, make sure Jen felt ok, and generally cramp their style. Roommate (whom I won't name, just to annoy her.... I'm still the same old jerk - it's not that I can't remember how to spell your name....) has to go to work, so she leaves... then Chris and John-Mark (who's names I can spell) show up, and join the who-haw.... long story short, Jen's IV runs out of juice (peach flavored by the way) so we head back to the room. Oh, and there was ice-cream... which would have been Marble Slab, but they were closed so we settled for Baskin Robbins.... I know, life is hard sometimes.... So we're in Jen's room, blah blah blah, I won't stop talking, and then my Dad shows up.... I talk more, maybe play gameboy for a little bit, and then Jen suddenly gets all dozey. At this point I decide to wake her up and tell her that I'm going to my Dad's for the night... but don't panic, I'll tell your folks so that you won't wake up all alone in a scary hospital room with things blinking and beeping and dripping oddly colored fluids through a clear plastic tube up into your arm then through your vein and into your heart... someone will be there. She mumbles that it's ok... I hug her goodnight, and I'm on my way... I assume she's fine.... or am I ever going to look like a big jerk in the morning.
Oh, Jen had a lombar puncture (I'm not sure if I spelt that right either...) according to Toni it was the worst thing in the entire world, according to Jen, it was more enjoyable than the bone marrow biopsy, which was more enjoyable than the Mexican ear infection. The doctors did it because they were concerned that the leukemia had moved into her brain. They didn't explain exactly how bad that would be, or what it would mean, and I wasn't even in the room at the time, so needless to say they left Jen's folks pretty shaken up. I couldn't even do my thing and try to relax them and ease the situation.... just bad timing. The results came back from the lombar puncture, and Jen has no white blood cells in her spine (which means no infection/leukemia or something in her brain.... apparently this is very good news). Everyone was happy, and then we had breakfast (and were still happy).
Generally speaking, Jen has felt lousy on the days when they give her the chemo.... just a general sensation of 'blah' (sorry if I'm too technical). She had some trouble sleeping, got a sore back, generally hated her life and all things medical, and had a crappy time while on the treatment. But today she had chemo, and as far as I could see, she had one of her best days since being admitted.... I think maybe it was because she got a break from her regular company (namely her parents and myself) and kind of got to shoot out on her own with roommate. The change of pace seemed to be good for her at any rate.
So that's basically all there is to report.... oh, and I beat Dave, Toni, and Jen at Clue, and beat Dave and Toni 2 on 1 at Cribbage... I love winning. I'll probably never play them again though.... best to leave the party while it's still fun.
Studying for the test version: Jen is good. Some days suck. Some days do not suck. Lombar Puncture = not fun. Winning everything = fun.
Oh, Jen also got a gameboy, and is very happy to play games on it.... that way she can politely ignore people without having to pretend to be asleep and therefore be very bored..... I seem to be rambling, so this is a good place to end