August 18th, 2004

Hello again everyone,
Well, one round of chemo down; eleven more to go! Not too bad. Todd did remarkably well for his first round of chemo which began last Friday. We arrived at Dr. Nahum's office where we were seated in a comfortable room full of La-Z-Boys. We sat next to each other and watched some television, did some reading, wrote in our journal, and waited patiently for 4 and 1/2 hours as the chemo dripped through the IV. Todd fell asleep for about 4 hours...so I had plenty of time to chat with the Nurses who all agreed that Todd is very handsome...

As soon as the IV was taken out we headed to our house where we were greeted by the home nurse who set up Todd's weekend "Fanny Pack" of chemo. The pack is really very small and barely noticeable. It sort of looks like a camera bag. There is a tube in the pack which sends the chemo to the port in Todd's chest. He had to wear the pack for 2 more days and was relieved to have the Nurse come back to our house on Sunday to disconnect everything. So, each round of chemo will consist of one 4 and 1/2 hour visit to Dr. Nahum's office followed by 2 and 1/2 days of wearing the pack. Round 2 begins next Wednesday.

Aside from feeling pretty tired and anxious for side effects to kick in, Todd is doing really well. The side effects from the drugs Todd is taking are: nausea, fatigue, sensitivity to hot and cold, and weight loss. But, so far so good. We had a nice weekend of playing ping-pong, going for walks, and eating well. On Monday we had guest appearances by Bill Riley and Jason Cherrella. A day of playing cards with the boys on our porch was just what the Doctor ordered. It was so wonderful to see Todd laughing and smiling again.

Yesterday, Todd went to the Acupuncturist (who is also his Surgeon down here). Todd loved her and said that she made him feel so comfortable and at ease about everything in regards to surviving his Cancer. Todd took away many things from this visit but the following words motivated him. She said, "From this point on in your fight against Cancer you can choose to do 2 things: You can die a little each day or you can live a little each day. Which do you want to do?" I think you all know which option Todd has chosen to do. I cannot convey to you all how genuinely impressed I am with Todd's courage, optimism, and will to fight. As always, he sends his warmest regards and hopes to be in touch as soon as possible. Take care and many thanks for everything.

Love,
Amanda Costanzo McGovern