Battle Three Begins

The war is not over and we began Battle Three yesterday. They started chemo and will continue with four different ones for four days. He has had three of them before but one a VP-16 is new. One will run for 24 hours and the others are 2 hours over four days. He is feeling a little more allert today since they cut back on his pain meds yesterday. He really enjoyed the visits. We are taking the blog comments to him today. Even though he has internet now, it won't let him see the comments due to the hospital firewall. I don't know if he can email or not. So if you want to come before he hits the lows, now is a good time. He is more awake and feels pretty good. Next week on or about Tuesday he may start going down but we will let you know how it goes. Thanks for the prayers and comments. from Joe's mom

more of the same

Joe is feeling about the same today. Yesterday was particularly hard. Pixel died and we had to let Joe know. He seemed to take it pretty well since he had known that she was ill and not doing well. There is really not much to say. Please post your comments to Joe so he will know that you are out there. Thanks, his mom.

hard days

Yesterday was a really hard day for Joe. His platelet count went down to 2 and his white count went down to .4. His port went bad and he has a staph infection again. He ran a fever of 102 during the night and they used ice to get it down. It went up and down all day. He received 2 bags of platelets and a bag of blood through an IV that they started in his hand. His pain meds were given in a shot as they couldn't hook up the blood and the pain pump at the same time. In between each bag of blood they gave him a bag of antibiotic. Three doctors were in to see him. Dr. Cichon (oncology) told us that he has another mass as revealed by the Cscan they did. It is 6cm and between his lung and ribs. This was quite a blow as we were hoping that they had gotten rid of everything with the last cheme. Dr. Spivey gets back on Wed. and hopefully Joe's counts will be up and they can do something. His infectious diseases doctor was in and said that the low white count allowed the staph to get hold and the staph caused the low platelet. He seemed confident that we could see some good results from the antibiotic by Tues or so. Today Joe is still feeling kinda low and tired. It will take some time to get back up on top but I know he will do it. Thanks for your support. Joe's Mom

lower and lower

Joey's counts are getting lower and lower. His platelets are 7 and his white count is .4. They gave him blood last night and are giving him more today, as well as platelets. He sounded a little stronger when I talked to him so that was the transfusion. I know he misses me and his dad coming up there every day so we appreciate those who take the time to go by and see him. His dad is getting better and hopefully by the end of the week he will be able to get up to the hospital to see Joe. Thanks for the prayers and visits. Please pray extra hard this week. It is the most dangerous time for Joe.

not so good today

I know that Margie wrote yesterday, but I talked with Joe this morning and he is not feeling well at all. His platelet count is down to 16 and the last time he got that low, he had a nose bleed for 16 hours. They are giving him shots to boost his white cell and red cell counts but that doesn't seem to be doing the trick. He thinks they should give him blood but the doctor disagrees. Dr. Spivey is on vacation (how could he?) and Dr. Cichon (Say shawn) is on duty. Pray if you could. He could really use some short visits if possible. Thanks for caring. His Mom

holding steady

Joe's in good spirits lately, although he is nutrapenic. Some of his other blood counts have fallen as well, but they've given him drugs and transfusions and he doesn't seem nearly as hard hit this round as he has in the past. Dad is also doing extremely well. He was sent home Monday, and since Mom is staying home with him for the most part, Joe's spending his days alone, so if you're available during the day you might make a special effort to get by to see him. That's about it for now!

bad luck

Joe's continuing to hold steady as far as counts and whatnot are concerned. He's finished the latest round of chemo, so his counts should really start dropping anytime now. His last lumbar puncture produced clear liquid rather than cloudy, so that's a good sign.

Dad's sextuple bypass went well. The doctor says he has strong arteries and a strong heart with no enlargement, so the prognosis for a great recovery is good. He looked great after the surgery, not at all like he had been split stem to stern for the better part of the day! :)

The latest bad news has really been a serious blow to Joe. His cat Pixel is very sick. She has feline peritonitis (Google "FIP, dry form"). It's caused by a virus she could have picked up at any point in her life, and when she became stressed or sick, it developed into the FIP. She started showing signs shortly after Joe went into the hospital, so I'm guessing that was the stress that brought it on. It's not curable, and most cats who have the dry form live for about a year after they are diagnosed. (This is far better than the wet form, where the cats suffer horribly and usually only live for a month or two. Most people opt for euthanization in that case.) But, the vet gave us antibiotics, liver pills (cause her liver function is compromised), and steroids, and hopefully with those and good nutrition we can give her a good slightly longer life. I had never heard of this, and it's a disease that only affects cats, both domestic and wild. There is a new vaccine against the original virus, and I ask you to look into it if you have cats. It is contagious and can live in the environment for 3-7 weeks, so if you come into contact with Pixel, please wash your hands and arms thoroughly before contacting other cats. Fortunately, she has shown some improvement on the meds, so hopefully we can keep her alive at least until Joe's out of the hospital himself. I personally want to know if Joe was very very bad in a past life or something? Was he a evil warlord or head kitten drowner or something? Geez louise, what next?!?

6 months!

Today is Joe's 6 month anniversary! What's the gift for 6 months in the hospital? Paper? Food? Who knows! They need an etiquette guide for this sort of thing. So far, Joe's been doing really well on the chemo, but it usually doesn't hit him for a day or two. My son just got back into town last night and I think it's really boosting Joe's spirit to spend time with him, and that's good, cause it looks like he might be spending LOTS of time with him. You see, I can't take him to work with me, so mom's taking him up to the hospital. This morning dad was supposed to get an angioplasty, so mom left Ethan with Joe while dad was getting the procedure so she could be available for the doctors to speak to her. When they got in there, they decided that dad was in way worse shape than they thought. They admitted him to ICU, and tomorrow he's getting a sextuplet bypass. That's right, 6 arteries are THAT blocked. So, hopefully Joe stays in good shape, or I'll have to take Ethan to work with me, and my boss HATES kids! :)

Joe's really appreciated all the extra visitors that have been coming his way lately. He said, "I don't know why all of the sudden everyone's coming to visit me, but I like it!" Tee hee! It'll be our little secret! Thanks for taking the time and keep up the good work!

intensive chemo today!

Today is the day that Joe starts another round of chemo. He is glad as the mass in his lower back has begun to grow again and is causing a lot of pain. It is more intensive than he has had in the past so we don't know what is going to happen. He has really enjoyed the visitors he has had and appologizes for his dropping off to sleep. Please keep him in your prayers as this is going to be a rough week. Thanks from his mom.

double entry

Well, Joey is doing pretty good. He had some bad times with some unstoppable bleeding last week but with 6 pints of blood and 3 bags of platelets he is okay now. This week he is facing another intrathecal where they put chemo into his spine after taking a sample to test. He has to stay flat for 4 to 6 hours after, so he is not too fond of this procedure. His platelet count is 114thousand so they will be starting another round of chemo soon. He really appreciates all the people who came to see him the past couple of weeks. It makes a big difference to him, even if it is a short visit. He tends to doze off, but will wake shortly, so be patient and bring a friend to talk to while you wait. So keep up the good work. See you at the hospital.

today or tomorrow

Today was another good day for Joe. He walked to the nurses station with the walker and a physical therapist named Kenny. He is getting stronger and his left arm has more movement in it than it has had in a long time. He was going to have a spinal tap but it has been put off until tomorrow. He said he has really appreciated all the people who visited him or called. It makes all the difference to him. His counts are really good. His platelets are up to 114 thousand which is close to normal. Last week was really rough with 3 units of platelets and about 6 bags of blood. he says he feels like a vampire. He is eating a lot better now so any homemade goodies are appreciated. If you are not sure, give him a call. He will be getting a second round of chemo soon so you better enjoy this lull while it lasts. Call or come by and say hi. Thanks to all. Joe's Mom