As of 7:45 p.m. EST, Sharon was still in the hospital. Bob assures everyone that she is receiving the best of care and monitoring. He said Sharon did not sleep much the two previous nights. They have her on a diuretic which means she is spending a lot of time in the bathroom. She is receiving all of her medications and now, what they call food (CPN-Protein and Lipids or fat), through her Hickman catheter or other ports that were recently implanted. Her main discomforts at this time are the mouth sores and shortness of breath.

When the doctors made their rounds this morning, they explained that these are the lowest days in her journey. Everything will improve once her blood counts begin to recover. Bob is calling this the "hurry up Pat" days. As with many procedures, each patient is different. Having said that, they expect to see positive signs in two to four days which is wonderful news!!

Sharon had to receive two units of blood and one unit of platelets this morning.

When I spoke to Bob this evening, they were unsure how much longer she will remain in the hospital. Again, this is something that varies from one patient to the next. Among other factors, when she can swallow and eat normally to maintain her minimum caloric intake, she will be closer to being able to return to the Gift of Life House. While Sharon did not feel like talking due to the mouth sores, I could hear her in the background correcting Bob on some of the information he was giving me.

In between taking care of Sharon and working, Bob has been perfecting his house-husband skills. He is messing up all of the laundry and doing most of the cooking.

The newest picture added is of Sister Colleen. She works at the Gift of Life House. Bob wants her to move to Georgia when they are ready to come home.

Pat is supposed to be sending me a picture of the water tower in Rochester that Steve took while they were there for the harvesting procedure. Bob insists that this picture needs to be on the blog. He said the city is planning on tearing it down because it has WORMS! Bob said that it is classic like the Walleye falling from the sky on New Year's Eve in Port Clinton, Ohio and the tractor parades in Oak Harbor, Ohio. Iowa would be proud. I will post the picture as soon as I receive it.