New Man

My husband is a new man! Yesterday, he went from looking like this, to looking like this, to looking like this. Just as Gretchen says, "bald is beautiful." Joe looks as handsome as ever. My mother said, "so now you have a sexy, bald, husband?" Joe's mom likes to joke that I'm caring for a baby...with a 21 year old mom. Joe says he now knows what it is like to be an old old man. He has no hair. He shuffles from the bed, to the restroom, to the hospital, and back again. Reading is his main source of entertainment. His diet consists of Ensure, popsicles, Jell-o, and millions of pills. Although, Joe's mouth sores started getting better today. Yay! Joe's platelets continue to rise little by little. His WBC look like they are creeping up as well. So things are going as well as they could be. Tomorrow will make 2 weeks since the transplant.

I must share the story of Joe's hair. He started off the day with a full head of hair. During his visit to the hospital, Joe was really fascinated by how easy it was to pull out his hair. Joe jumps in the shower after every hospital visit. Yesterday afternoon when he started washing his hair, it all started falling out. When Joe stepped out he had big bald patches on the front of his head.

In the evening, Joe's dad had requested that I make some chili. Joe LOVES chili, but unfortunately he couldn't eat any with his mouth sores. So while I had chili with my in-loves, Joe found a way to entertain himself. He went to the bathroom and started yanking out all of his hair. He figured this was better than leaving trails of hair everywhere and waiting for it to all fall out on its own. After dinner, I went to help. It was actually really funny in a weird kind of way. So by the end of the evening, Joe was officially bald!

That is about it. We are really encouraged by his progress, and just keep praying that all continues to go smoothly. Praise the Lord!

Uh-oh...:)

It may be starting. Joe just might be losing his hair. Maybe. Yesterday, before and after his post-hospital-visit shower, I noticed all of these loose hairs on Joe. We then discovered that of all places, Joe was starting to lose hair from his armpits! It was just sliding right out. Joe then decided to test the hair on his head. That stuff is much more stubborn, and yet Joe was still able to pull out tiny little tufts of hair. We buzzed Joe's hair yesterday afternoon since it was getting really shaggy. Joe is really fascinated by the prospect of becoming completely bald. He seems to be encouraging it by randomly yanking at the little hairs on his head. Still, it looks pretty thick up there. Today, there were fewer loose hairs. We thought maybe he would wake up to a pillow covered with hair, but that hasn't happened yet. There was just one lonely hair, possibly two! We shall wait and see.

Joe's nausea and belly pain has pretty much vanished. To replace those ailments, Joe now has a very stubborn headache that appears throughout the day. Also, he is starting to develop sores in his mouth that are irritating. The one positive thing that has resulted from the mouth sores is that Joe has an excuse to eat popsicles. His nurse suggested it this afternoon, and Joe was very excited about it! Another praise worthy thing is that even though Joe's last platelet transfusion was a bit of a nightmare, his counts went up! Yesterday it was 40, today it was 45. Joe's hemoglobin level is steadil decreasing, and we're anticipating a blood transfusion within the next week.

Some happy news about one of the girls we've been praying for. Amy is more than sixty days out from her transplant, and her thirty day bone marrow biopsy showed that she is 100% engrafted. Woohoo, and Praise the Lord! Also, pray for Alivia and her family as she will be undergoing a splenectomy in a few days, and a transplant a few weeks after that.

A very Happy Birthday to John of John & Carole, TK, and Kelly from small group who celebrated birthdays recently. And a very Happy Birthday to SuAnn who should be celebrating today!

Thank you so much Janet & Frank, and Aunt Vivian, Zim, & Yim for your generous gifts. You are all so very thoughtful and sweet.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who have been flooding our mailbox with cards! We really appreciate your support.

And a super giant THANK YOU to Greg who is absolutely the best neighbor in the world. If there is such thing as a best neighbor award, he should get it. Greg, you have been so incredibly helpful, we appreciate it more than you'll ever know.

Long day.

Sometimes it seems that Joe's body wants to create a little excitement just to make things more interesting. On Tuesday, Joe's platelet count was 10. He had a platelet transfusion. Yesterday, his platelet count went all the way up to 11! Today it was 9. Joe had another platelet transfusion. His body, after pondering a bit decided that things have been a bit boring. So Joe's body decided to break out into a rash after receiving the transfusion. It started out as a bit of itchiness in the neck area. Then some little bumps near the belly. Soon enough, Joe's whole front and back was bright red. Joe was in agony with the itchiness and burning. Then came some tightness in his chest, and nausea. Fortunately, some benadryl, solumedrol, and ativan fixed Joe up in no time...it also knocked him out. Joe thought he was asleep for about 30 minutes, but it was actually a few hours. There is absolutely no sign of the rash anymore, which is great. Joe got an EKG just in case. It was normal. A whole bunch of cute nurses were popping into the room to make sure that Joe was okay. He was being given the royal treatment. All is well now. Hopefully, Joe's body decides to behave better now. We were only at the hospital for eight and a half hours today.

His WBC is still low, low, low - just 51. Yet, Joe continues to avoid getting any fevers. Praise the Lord! He eats a bit here and there. Just enough to keep him going. And in case you're curious, Joe still has a full head of hair. It is stuck to his head like superglue. We're taking bets as to whether he'll end up losing it or not. Okay, maybe not. I don't want to be accused of encouraging gambling.

Just a friendly reminder, although we are thankful for the gesture, Joe is not able to receive fresh flowers and plants right now. Just knowing that people are loving and praying for Joe is the best gift ever.

Also, a certain day of a certain week, of this month is special. And although I like to acknowledge such things when I'm aware, this time I've been given strict orders not to say anything. So for those readers who know what I'm talking about - I'm not being bad and forgetful. I'm just obeying orders. And for those who haven't the faintest idea what I'm babbling about...that is good, because you're not supposed to. :)

Here are some pictures! Joe and Albert had a bonding experience. Albert shaved Joe's head!!!!!

This is before...
















*giggle* stylish, eh?

And this is after!

















Poor babe is in the hospital. But he's still smiling!