Update from Dad

Another update brought to you by Mark (I'm in Alfred today so not at the hospital for any breaking news):

"The big news is that his nurse for today is Kim who had the exact same diagnosis as Sawyer when she was 21. We asked her a bazillion questions and learned that she has been in remission for six years which means that she is considered cured. She reported that her protocol included radiation which does not seem to be in Sawyer's near or distant future and that she was stuck in the hospital for just shy of 28 days. Kim was a political science major thinking about going to law school but after her diagnosis, she decided to enroll in the accelerated BS in nursing program at the University of Rochester. It was very refreshing for both of us to see such a potentially positive outcome. Of course Sawyer has no doubt that this will be blip, albeit a big one, in his life that he will overcome and move on similar to Kim.

Following the in depth conversation with Kim, Sawyer spent a good portion of the morning trying to decide what kind of sub he was going to have for lunch. In between outlining possible sandwich variations, he went over to visit the A-A student who was injured in a soccer game. She seems to be doing well and her parents hope that she will be discharged today. Sawyer worked with the tutor for about two hours this morning and it seems he is doing fairly well keeping up with most of his classes. Dr. Andolina stopped by (without the residents) to check on Sawyer and he remains pleased with Sawyer's progress. Dr. Andolina confirmed that Sawyer will most likely be discharged on Monday. He also talked about the slog that the next eight months will be for Sawyer. In our conversations with Kim, she recalled this being a difficult time. She also recalled constantly washing her hands and using purell. Much to Sawyer's delight, Dr. Andolina gave Sawyer the thumbs up for another day pass. Upon Dr. Andolina's departure, Sawyer resumed working with the tutor then eventually admitted that he was having difficulty focusing on his work due to a pre-occupation with lunch. He finished a couple of math assignments, quickly changed his clothes and we were out the door.

We went to Subway where he inhaled a sub followed by a McFlurry at MacDonald's. Upon arriving back at the hospital, he began complaining about his ears being plugged and having a headache. He took a couple Tylenol and is now curled up in bed for an afternoon nap."

So, there's another day in the life of Sawyer at Strong Hospital - with any luck those days will come to an end on Monday (at least for awhile, until he has to be re-admitted later in his treatment cycle).