ss called me yesterday, which was good and bad. i was *really* glad and relieved to hear from him, and get some more information. but he did say he wanted to be sure he talked to me before they checked him in.... which, the way he said it, i took to mean 'in case we don't get to talk again'... andthat broke my heart. i was trying to be really brave and strong for his sakebut he said "i had to talk to my other daughter" and i cried. i keep doing that...

as for his condition, there is "good" (sort of i guess) news and bad news. the good news is the latest blood tests show it's not progressing nearly as fast as they thought, but the bad news is, at the rate it WAS progressing when detected they said he should be dead by now (!). so the doctors are kind of confused as to what's going on. he says they're trying to figure out what to do and what's going on before they start chemo, but he'll probably be admitted sometime this week. frankly i'm not sure why they wouldn't start it right away - but what do i know. it's not good in any case.

for now, he says he's really really tired (awake 2-4 hours a day) and totally anemic/no red blood cells. he said he is scared to shave bc if he nicks himself he might not be able to stop bleeding. he's very philosophical about everything (such as is his personality) but i think it's tough. also, r. is in cuba and he doesn't even know this is going on! i am not sure if that is by their choice (figuring they can't really get him home right now so why stress him out) or if they don't know exactly how to reach him. i didn't ask but this seems like an odd thing to do - i can't imagine he's going to be glad to have been spared the knowledge, especially if things get worse. but what do i know....

(excerpted from an email to cc)