Jan 10 - it's a tap dance

I heard Joe explain how he's feeling to a friend today and it iterated what I was thinking...1 step forward, 2 steps back. I wouldn't say he has taken that many steps today, but it seems like a good day is followed by a bad day, etc. Today Joe continued to have nausea and dry heaves. On a positive note his pain has been reduced this week - no pain in the stomach or upper abdomen and he's slowly starting to eat a little more (we measure in bites). He ate about 7 bites of soup today for his meals instead of 1 0r 2. They are also now counting his calories daily. Joe has been getting up and walking around but is still very tired.

We got a chance to talk to the Dr. tonight and she is going to try a different med for the nausea than they've been using to see if it will have any effect. It's an anti-psychotic (Zyproxa), so we hope it won't make him feel too loopy. They'll start it in a low does and administer at night. If we see any strange reactions, we'll discontinue. They are also reducing his steroid intake. She did tell him we can bring in some food for him if he feels like something from home will boost his diet variety and make him want to eat. We are taking up some of Great Nana's pastina to see if that sounds good to him!

I will update some info tomorrow on how the family could use help. Everyone has been asking how they can help out Joe ot the family. I put together a list today but am to tired right now to post it, so look for that tomorrow. Again, thanks for all the support!