March 19th

Hello,

Well, a week has almost passed since my first chemo treatment. Overall I am doing okay. The biggest issue that I am having so far is that my mouth is completely raw. On Monday, my oncologist prescribed me a mouth wash which taste a little like banana and has the consistency of pudding. If you can imagine that, try to imagine swishing pudding in your mouth. (quite the visual huh!) It doesn't work too well, but it is better than nothing. The medication helps for about 45 minutes but then it wares off and the pain returns. Not Fun. I am pretty tired most of the time and every night at about 6:30 I get a migraine headache. I think I am getting that from teaching all day and I just get exhausted. My body also hurts in more places than I thought could hurt. I am still really sore from the thoracic surgery from a couple of weeks ago but now every joint in my body is so swollen. I try to move around to help from it getting to bad but my energy just doesn't seem to last. So, I tend to sit around and just throb everywhere.

Another hard thing is that my kids have not been well. RyLee has had chronic croup, and little Katelyn has been battling something for a while now too. They want to be with their daddy so much but with my raw mouth I can not be around them too much for risk of infection. The good news is that our new and wonderful pediatrician gave us antibiotics for the two girls so I am thinking that they will be getting better soon. I am going to get enough energy saved up to take the girls to the park during spring break and spend some time with them. I know I might over do it a little but for them it is sooo worth it.

Emma Lee is an amazing person. I really do not know how she has been keeping up. This week alone she had to take the girls to the doctor in Walla Walla, work out day care because our providers daughter was sent home from school ill (Everybody just seems to be ill), go to work, take care of all of our banking and personal business, take care of three sick people, laundry, baths for the girls, dishes, and on and on and on. I know she is just exhausted but every morning she gets up first and gets the girls ready and makes my morning drink(it helps my mouth), packs the daycare bag, and somehow gets herself put together looking amazing. I love her so much. I will give her some more help as soon as I can. I am thankful that her parents have decided to have the girls over for a "sleep over" for tonight so she can get some rest. It was also really nice that my mom reschedule her morning yesterday so she could help watch the girls when we did not have a daycare option and Em really needed to go into work. Em is working so hard.

A message to all who are following this blog:

I have found out that some people are having trouble posting or are not comfortable about posting . I just wanted to say that if that applies to you feel free to email me at chris.demianew@gmail.com or demianew@gmail.com to contact Emma Lee. Getting a message from you often is the little lift that helps to carry us onto the next challenge.

Another note is about the wonderful contact people who are helping us out. To help Emma Lee and I many people have volunteered to coordinate the ways people can help us out. Below is a list of the people who are being kind of a "lead" helper and if you would like to help they would love to hear from you.

In Pendleton:
Tom and Karen Demianew
45667 Best Rd
Pendleton, OR 97801

In Hermiston:
Ethan McDonald
ethan.mcdonald@hermiston.k12.or.us
&
Jessica Charleton
jessica.charleton@hermiston.k12.or.us

In Vancouver:
Patti Lundy
plundy@egreen.wednet.edu

I really am uncomfortable about asking for help. But I also am the kind of person that when I want to help somebody out I do not like not knowing what I can do to help or feeling like not being able to provide someting that is needed. So, I am trying to make it as open as possible for people to know how they can help and who to talk to. One of the biggest ways people can help is if you want to make a donation to help my family shoulder the costs of my treatments Patti and Ethan both have deposit slips to the account set up at Bank of America. They are the most wonderful people and I appreciate so much what they are doing to help me out. If you would like the account number just email me and I can send that to you or I can mail a slip if you would like. My mailing address is 704 SW 28th street, Pendleton, OR 97801

As you can imagine we are still in the early stages of my treatment and it will most likely get worse before I get better. I wish that I could take more time off to rest but my sick leave has been exhausted and I now take unpaid leave if something else doesn't work out. I am so thankful for the meals that have been provided for my family. It has been a BIG help to have all of the assistance with the meals. Evenings are so hard on Emma Lee and I and having a meal that is easy to get ready is a big plus.

As for all of you, thank you for your continued prayers and messages. It is so nice to open my email or mailbox and see a message from you. I hope you are all well and I look forward to posting again soon.

Chris