hello!

It feels like it's been a long time since I've posted photos. So here are a few...

This was Joe, heading off for his CT guided biopsy this past Thursday.

Joe has been on and off of oxygen. Each new day, he's on it a little less and off of it a little more. Because of Joe's low WBC, he has been wary about walking out in the hallways too much - even with a mask. Joe's current room is quite big though. So for exercise, Joe paces the room, and maneuvers an extra long oxygen tube. Kinda like a puppy leashed to a tree!

Joe posin' with a bottle of Red Ribbon Cherry Supreme!

Things are going relatively smoothly. It seems that the Decitabine that Joe was given is working better than expected. Joe has had a couple low-grade fevers recently - but they have been low enough to be considered non-fevers. Another exciting thing is that the amount of blasts (immature white blood cells) in Joe's peripheral blood is decreasing. Something is definitely working! Joe will be getting yet another bone marrow biopsy soon (#10, if you're counting!). The results may influence the next step in Joe's treatment. If a large decrease in blasts is found in the marrow, then the doctors just might give Joe another round of Decitabine to give the lungs some extra time to get better. If the blast count remains unaffected, then induction chemo will likely begin soon.

As for Joe's lung biopsy, we were supposed to get the final FINAL results today. We didn't get the official final results yet though. What we were told is what we've been told...everything has come back negative. The only sign of anything has been some hemorrhaging (quite possibly from the biopsy itself) and some chronic inflammation. This doesn't explain why Joe still experiences episodes of shortness of breath or why he still experiences fluid buildup in his lungs. We'll just keep on praying.

Here's a fun story about Red Ribbon Cherry Supreme. On Friday, Pastor Jim stopped by to visit us in the hospital. You can always count on talking about everything under the sun when you're with Pastor Jim. Somehow, we started talking about stuff on TV, and how one of the local stations, WQED will often have these specials about Pittsburgh. During Joe's last admission, we watched one of these specials and learned about a local bottling company that makes this famous cherry soda (er...pop) the old-fashioned way. We found it weird that we had never heard of this drink that was supposed to be local. When we asked Pastor Jim about it, he had never heard of it either. Well, wouldn't you know...Monday morning we heard a knock on the door. In the mornings, between the doctors, nurses, dietary, and pharmacy, someone is coming in or out every five minutes. We were so shocked to see Pastor Jim appear! He looked like he was smuggling in bottles of beer. Turns out, Pastor Jim looked up Red Ribbon Cherry, and his lovely wife called the company (which is in Natrona) to find out where they sell their products. It seems they sell a lot of cases through beer distributers? But Pastor Jim & Kathy were able to find a local place that sold individual bottles. FUN!!!!!! Joe and I have had the privilege of trying the famous cherry soda and the root beer (We prefer the root beer!). Joe will also be trying the "Mint Julep." According to a lady at the bottling company, their mint julep has calmed the tummies of people on chemotherapy! Who knows?

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Thank you Pastor Jim & Kathy for hunting down the Natrona bottling company!!!!! It was such a fun surprise. Pastor Jim - thank you for scaring my socks off. I had no idea the bottle opener would start spewing out Steelers stuff! I thought that the television was haunted. :) Joe thinks the opener is so cool.

Thank you to our parents for always taking such good care of us. We love you!!!!!!