Interview with Doug

All is holding steady here.  Currently no better and currently no worse.  Everyone needs to see some movement towards better, so tomorrow the team of Dana Farber researchers and big shot Bone Marrow Transplant Docs are getting together to talk all about Doug and figure out next steps to work towards getting him out of here.

Since Doug still can not really focus to write and there is not a tremendous amount of newness to report other than more vomiting and diarrhea, we figured I could interview him.  Please take this lightly...he has just had some Ativan and this is my first ever interview.

m:What has been the best part of your hospital stay?
d: Any day that all of my family is here and I don't feel sick.

m: What has been the worst part of your stay?
d: The past three weeks with all the puking, diarrhea and cramping.  I can't eat or drink and I've got an amazing drink on my mind that doesn't contain alcohol that is driving me crazy to think about and I can't have it.

m: What is in this magic drink?
d: Peaches, mangoes and kiwis mixed with water and ice - ice cold on the rocks.  Then there is a watermelon, blueberry, strawberry combo that I haven't quite focused on as much.

m: What is the funniest thing that has happened to you in the hospital - any stay?
d: Catching the Cleaning Woman in VT outside my room reading a flashcard with the word Vagina on it.  My favorite word since childhood.  She caught me catching her and explained she had to learn anatomy for a medical terminology exam.   Once when I was little my parents let me say penis and vagina over and over again at the dinner table thinking I would lose interest.  It went on for hours and I laughed the whole time.

m:  How old were you then?
d:  It was only 5 years ago.  No really maybe 3 or 4 years old.

m: Have you caught Brogan using that word yet?
d:  Yes, but with a lot more maturity than I do.

m: Any music you have spent a lot of time listening to in here?
d: No....I made a mixed tape so it has been a lot of different songs.  Homeward Bound has been particularly poignant through this.

m: Thoughts on the Red Sox this year?
d: This is the part of the season I do not pay attention to.  They'll either suck, be mediocre or really good and it doesn't matter until the playoffs.

m: What do you like best about the view from your room (his view stinks...)?
d: That the sky is 1/3 open.  The buildings block the rest, but at least I get some.

m: What have you been doing with your days?
d: Oh my god!  A lot of being in bed and pooping and puking, pretty much all mutually exclusive. My goal at night is to make it through on one pair of underwear which means half the time I don't sleep because I am too worried about it.
m: You have a lot of underwear here, so that should not impede your rest.

d: There have been a lot of times in the past week where I have just wanted to stop and end all of it and not fight anymore, but with that I  don't think the pain and suffering would end and would just get worse because I would be separated from my family and friends where they can help me and love me and I can love them back.  So, I look at my boys, and my family and that giant iced peached mango drink that I am going to make and hope that in a few days it will all go away and I'll be able to come home and be with my family and play with my boys while I sip that drink.
d: That's a good blog.