Random

It seems that everyone wants to be like Joe. Apparently, even Britney has gotten the "I-wanna-be-like-Joe" bug. Either that or she has decided to become an avid supporter of AAMDS. Then again, maybe she is just being Britney. I think that as long as Joe doesn't try to be like Britney and get "something dainty" like a tattoo of "cute little lips on [his] wrist" everything will be okay.

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We had some more visitors yesterday. Ray is a new friend that we met...yesterday! Ed is the guy who helped to revamp the fliers used for the bone marrow drives held in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. We actually met him for the first time yesterday as well. Jurica was one of our small group leaders back in Philadelphia. She was totally awesome. Ed spoke at PCC-Oakland this morning, and Ray and Jurica tagged along to be supportive. We had a great time chatting with them yesterday and catching up on things as well as learning new things. Good times!

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Actually, this Friday there will be another CLLF sponsored minority based bone marrow drive at CMU. Once again, the Lambdas will be hosting. There will also be another bone marrow drive coming up in the next month or two at Pitt. APAMSA will be working with CLLF.

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Our dear friend Lisa recently brought a relevant article to my attention.

Tuskegee's ghosts: Fear hinders black marrow donation

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Happy Chinese New Year everyone!
Thank you Julia for making Joe some homemade chicken soup. Yum!

No Biopsy!!!!!

Joe managed to avoid getting a biopsy today. YAY!!!! His counts weren't much better...but they weren't much worse either. Joe's doctor feels that even though the counts are lower than normal, they seem to be stable. Having a dip in the counts isn't unusual. Just the fact that they went so low was concerning. As planned, Joe will get another blood draw on Friday to confirm nothing weird is happening. If they still look about the same or higher, then chemo Round 6 begins on Monday. Friday is also our monthly appointment with the doctor, so we'll discuss more transplant details.

We did go to Pitt and speak with their chapter of APAMSA. Joe did a great job, and the students really seemed to be receptive to what he had to share. The hour went by much faster than we had anticipated. Thank you to David, Jamie, and May for all of your help coordinating everything!

Thank you to Sheena and Sheena's mom for the yummy food and for your friendship.

Thank you to Lauren and Eric for your sweet card. Hugs are the best, even when they are virtual. :)

Thank you to everyone who prayed extra hard, sent good vibes, crossed their fingers and toes, called, emailed, and otherwise expressed concern for Joe in the past two days. Wow! All of that love really worked. How blessed we are to have such a great network of support!!!!!!

...but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
~Isaiah 40:31

Counts dropping

Last week when Joe had his blood drawn, his counts had dropped. We were hoping it was nothing and the counts would stabilize by this week. Today, results of his blood draw showed that Joe's counts have gone down even more. They haven't hit rock bottom, but it has been months since they have been so low. To give you a better idea of where he is...

Normal Ranges
WBC - [4.4-11.0] k/mcL
Hemoglobin - [13.4-17.5] g/dL
Platelet Count - [145-445] k/mcL
Neutrophils - [42-74] %
Neutrophils-absolute - [2.20-7.70] k/mcL

Joe's Counts
WBC - 2.7 k/mcL
Hemoglobin - 16.6 g/dL (the one thing that stayed normal)
Platelet Count - 75 g/dL
Neutrophils - 32%
Neutrophils-absolute - 0.86 k/mcL

We don't know what this means. Joe will get his blood drawn again on Wednesday and Friday to see what happens. If the results on Wednesday show another drop, Joe will be getting another bone marrow biopsy that afternoon to see what is happening with his marrow. I don't know what happens after that. One step at a time. If the results on Wednesday show the counts rising again, then we'll proceed as planned with chemo round 6 beginning on Monday.

We're trying to remember to take one step at a time. Remembering that God is in complete control. It is scary to think things might be changing after being on the positive side of "bad" for so long. But we will try not to worry before we know anything, because worrying won't solve anything. Plus, there is a positive, and that is that everything has already been moving toward Joe getting his transplant sooner than later. God is in control.

Wednesday, Joe and I are also supposed to speak to the Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association (APAMSA) at Pitt (They are planning a bone marrow drive with Cammy Lee in the Spring!). We're hoping it is informal. :) David from Pitt has been so amazing with organizing everything and keeping us up to date. It is actually a bit intimidating! Pray that Joe will still be okay to go and share his experiences.

Saturday, we were going to kick off the Christmas season and attend a hospital party. With Joe's counts being funny though, we're going to be safe and stay home. Don't want to take any chances!

Thank you to Sandy for hanging out with me. It was really nice to catch up with you!

Thank you to Cammy Lee for the cheery message! You have been a great source of encouragement.

Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.
~2 Corinthians 3:5