Saturday, June 5, 2010 - Chemotherapy update for Joe

So far so good...the chemotherapy Joe received yesterday seems to have gone really well. Thank you, Lord, for answering our prayers! We were all a little nervous, including little Joe, for this round of the double medicine chemotherapy - which included the dreaded dactinomycin. I made plans to spend the weekend close to home not knowing how Joe would respond to the medicine. Last time he was sick for several days so we said lots of prayers and were hoping and believing in the best. I have been giving him anti-nausea medicines at scheduled periods and he has not complained the least bit of discomfort. He has been eating and holding everything down. This is a huge blessing for all of us! He is doing so great that we may even try to drive to Glen Rose (about an hour away) to watch some of Ben's baseball tournament this weekend.

As for Joe's blood counts, his hemoglobin has dropped a little further down to 7.9. It is usually around 8.0 when a blood transfusion is considered. The dip in the counts is due to the virus he had last week in addition to the doxorubin he received a few weeks ago. We were hoping the counts would have gone back up a little more before this round of the dactinomycin, knowing that his counts will continue to decrease due to this week's treatment. Joe still has a ton of energy so his doctor is not very concerned and is optimistic that Joe can still get through this period of time without a blood transfusion. This past round of chemotherapy will make his blood counts drop over the next several days but they feel he should have high enough counts to participate in normal activities throughout the weekend. We may need to be a little more conscious of limiting his exposure next week as that is when his blood counts are most likely to be the lowest.

Our friend, Angie Rodgers, came over with her four kids to watch Ben, Will, and Caleb while we were at the appointment. Joe felt bad that his friends were coming over to play and he had to go to the doctor, so we took their son, Jonah, with us to keep Joe company at the clinic. Jonah was a really good sport about this and, of course, the boys quickly made themselves right at home in the lobby with the Wii. Meanwhile, Angie held down the fort and entertained the other 6 kids. Thank you, Angie, I hope you aren't too exhausted today!

It is such a relief that Joe is doing as well as he is doing. Thanks for all of your prayers! God has been answering them in big and mighty ways. We are so thankful for the peace that God has given Joe and the rest of our family as we walk this road. We had no idea what to expect and I feel like he is doing much better than we could have imagined. He is not in any pain. His hair is thinning but he still has hair...he wears it short anyway so that is not a significant change yet. He is starting to gain some of his weight back. He is resuming his normal activities without any difficulty. His spirits are high and he has a smile on his face. We are thankful for so much!