Dear Friends and Family,
I'm back at the computer.  Sara Burke has sent the last 2 letters while I was
as the hospital.  I came home last night with Sara B. and Denny.

Saturday night 12/20

We start off with great news!  Brian got tremendous relief Sat. night when he
had a bowel movement.  We waited over 24 hours for that.  His long hours of
stomach discomfort were immediately relieved.

The leg pain returned quickly, but morphine and benadryl helped him sleep
peacefully from 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.  He'd gone 24 hours without sleep,
because of the stomach pain.  After he had fallen asleep, Sara, Stan and 
Steven went to "Happy House" to get a good night's sleep.

Susan stayed with Brian and advocated to get him a PCA line--this enables him
to push a button whenever he has pain.  This will help prevent that cycle we
got into Friday when he had pain and we had to wait for nurses while he
screamed in pain.  They installed this line at midnight.  They also gave him
his last chemo treatment for Friday just before midnight.  It had been
delayed because of his constipation.  We had to check his urination every 2 
hours all during the night.

When he woke up at 5:00, he was ready to talk and play cars.  We talked and
played until 7:00 when Stan returned from "Happy House".  The nurses started
preparing for his LP (lumbar puncture).  He breezed through this, his 4th LP.
He amazes us daily with his bravery and tolerance of painful situations.

Sunday 12/21

Brian had a good day with Sara, Stan and Steven.  Susan went to Happy House to
sleep about 10:00 after having breakfast in the cafeteria with the nurse.  We
spent a lot of time talking during the night and had a great conversation over
breakfast.  He was very helpful during the night.  We get a new nurse every 12
hours and the quality varies.  We have been lucky to get mostly "good ones".
They impact the day very much.

Rick (Stan's brother) brought his 2 girls with him to pick up Steven Sunday
afternoon.  Susan, Denny and Sara B. took care of Brian while they all went out
to dinner in S.F.  Brian was in good spirits all day.  He's enjoying books,
cars and videos.  Denny and Susan ate in the cafeteria while Sara B. fed Brian
his dinner.  The prednisone (he gets it twice a day) gives him a crazy
appetite.  He is still able to eat a lot and keep it down!  His favorite is
goldfish crackers!  Rick and family left with Steven at 6:00 Sun. night.

Sara B., Denny and Susan left about 8:00 after giving Brian a quilt that Susan
had made for him.  His beautiful quilt from the church had gotten soiled and he
needed a new one to sleep with.  The hospital blankets are coarse and not cozy.
When we got home to Alameda, we were greeted by Immanuel Lutheran Church
Christmas carolers!  What a wonderful surprise!  Their timing was perfect.  The
beautiful holiday songs brought us a lot of joy.

Monday 12/22

It is amazing, but it has been another great day!  He even walked the length of
the hallway to see the view of S.F. at night with all the sparkly lights
dragging Ivy (his name for his IV) behind him.  And he went to the bathroom
instead of using the urinal.  All these are big steps!

Diane and Jim Brock went to help out today.  Sara spent last night with Brian
and even got to sleep, because he had such a restful night and the nurses were
good and let her sleep.  Stan slept at Happy House.

Chemo continues everyday in different amounts and varying drugs.  We are
thankful that Brian is tolerating it all so well.  Normal blood count is about
4000-5000.  His dropped yesterday to 700.  When it is below 500, that is called
Neutropena (spell?).  We haven't gotten the counts for today.  Whe it drops
below 500, Brian must be put in isolation.  We don't exactly know what that
means since it has not happened yet.  His count must be above 1000 for him to
go home.

Obviously your prayers are working miracles, because no one expected him to be
doing so well.  He talks about wanting to go home and hoping that the medicine
will make him feel better.  This chemo phase continues through Sat., Dec 27th.
Then there is a 2 week recovery period before it starts again.

With any luck, David will be over his cold tomorrow and will be able to go with
me to the hospital.  Sara W. is going to Santa Rosa to go to the dentist, see
her clean house, get the Christmas packages, run errands and pick up Steven to
come for Christmas eve at Happy House.  David and I well relieve Stan on
Tuesday so he can get some sleep.  He's got Monday night with Brian.  Brian
loves to talk at night-all night!!!

Will send you updates as frequently as we are able.  Wish they had e-mail at
the hospital.

Love,
Susan