Hard Saturday

It was a hard Saturday yesterday. It wasn't hard for Joe so much as it was hard for all the rest of us. When the morning nurse came in Saturday morning, Joe had had a major personality change and had lost much of his body functions. All he did was sit there and smile, or even chuckle quietly to himself. He wouldn't eat, take his pills, or answer questions. He did answer some questions, but for the most part if you asked him a question he would just smile and put his head on his hand. He didn't remember when or where he was born, but he did remember all our names and he remembered that dad had surgery yesterday. The doctors thought that the cancer was in his brain or that possibly he had a stroke, so they did a bunch of tests and did an MRI, but it turned out that it was just one of the drugs he was on. Sometimes the drug for his nueropathy can have this effect on people, and also his electrolytes where out of whack. So they took him off the nurotin and put him on a magnesium drip, and around early evening, Joe started slowly returning to us. By night, he was perfectly fine! What a relief! So now we know what Joe's like when he's super dooper stoned. I prefer regular Joe!

these summer days

Joe's doing another round of chemo, and so far so good. I haven't posted because there's really nothing new to report. Joe's still in the hospital, still getting chemo, still lonely. That is all. :)

fever

Well, we had the meeting and they basically wanted to know if Joe felt safe being treated from home or would rather stay in the hospital. After some discussion, he and his oncologist agreed that they needed to get even more aggressive with the chemo, and so it would probably be better to stay right where he is. As always, he still would love for every one to write to him or call or come by. He is running a fever this morning but they are medicating for it. Joe's spirits are high and he feels good. Thanks for all the support. Looking forward to see everyone soon. Joe's mom

update

Thank you to everyone who really came through at the last minute on the Pampered Chef fundraiser! We got above the party mark, and I don't know what the exact numbers are, but I'll be sure and tell you as soon as I can.

Joe's doing well. He's rebounding well from the last chemo, but we don't know yet when the next round will start. The oncologist and a social worker want to meet with the family in Joe's room Tuesday morning, which kind of wigs me out, but I'm trying to not worry too much. Keep praying for us, especially Joe!

Pampered Chef

Just a reminder-there's just a few more days to order! We're actually $36 short of making a party order, which really complicates things, so please tell anyone you know that said they might order to do it now! Here's the instructions again:

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It is simple to order.

1. Go to www.pamperedchef.biz/fonda
2. Click on Order Products (the picture of the Trifle Bowl)
3. Enter Joe Quinton as the host, click

You are then ready to shop.
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OR you can paste this link into your browser.
http://www.pamperedchef.biz/fonda?page=host-search-results&showId=1703218

Thanks!

improvements

I forgot to mention something exciting in the last post! Joe's been improving physically, and he's made so much progress that he's been able to lose the eye patch and go back to binocular vision! YAY! It seems the chemo might not being killing his hair follicles anymore, cause he's covered with fuzz on top and he's getting quite a beard. The nursing staff has taken to calling him Grizzly Adams.

He's complained of being very lonely in the day, so if you're available during the day please try to drop by. Also, don't forget to place your Pampered Chef order soon! You only have about a week left!

keep on keeping on

Joe's doing pretty well, all things considered. He's been running a slight fever, but his counts haven't really dropped at all since his last round. The doctor found out a new way to do the chemo that's extremely effective on resistant cancers, so Joe's starting that this week. We all feel really hopeful that this is the key! The tumor on his chest is big and yucky looking. Get him to flash you if you want. You might want to take some mardi gras beads as incentive!

Don't forget to order some Pampered Chef! Scroll down to the next entry for details. :)