Sunday (March 8, 2009)

I have so much to tell you and to be thankful for. I hope you will not feel that I am writing a novel, although, I feel it could be a best seller among Christian cancer patients and families!

In January, Joel did have 3 rounds of the more aggressive chemo IV drug. It did not affect him adversely as much as we thought it would. He did experience fatigue, which was expected, but other than that, he did not lose his hair (it only thinned a little), did not lose his appetite, and did not have any other side effects. He was quarantined for about 2 weeks, only being allowed to go out to the doctor. His platelet counts did get very low, but not low enough that he needed any transfusions.

This past week, he again had the aggressive drug, and started to feel fatigued more quickly than he did for the first round. He will go back to the doctor this week for blood tests to determine where his blood counts are. He is experiencing a loss of taste. But, that has not diminished his appetite!

On the last day of his chemo treatment, we were told he would have to go into a private treatment room. They could not tell us at the time why he would need to be isolated from the other patients, but we soon found out. All of the nurses on the treatment floor came into his room with birthday cupcakes, a black balloon, a potted Jonquil plant for me, and a DVD entitled "Arsenic and Old Lace". (This was because of his 47 arsenic chemo treatments this past Fall.) It was so nice of them and we enjoyed it immensely. We know for sure that he has received the absolute best care any one for ask for. We have made new friends of all the nurses and office staff and will miss them when he is released. He is now in remission and will only have to visit the doctor about once a month, and take chemo by mouth for another year.

We have been so blessed and know that we did not do this alone. God's hand was on Joel the whole time and guiding the doctors and nurses during his treatment.

We went to a restaurant in Archdale the week before he started this last treament and saw a plaque on the wall that said "Every Day Is A Gift". We felt immediately that this is our special saying. I spent several hours last Friday looking for this plaque but could not find one. I did, however, find a beautifully framed version of this and it is now hanging on the wall in our den so we can see it every day.

This past year has been so hard for me, with my father's death last February,my surgery in April, Joel's diagosis in September and his subsequent treatments, my Mom's death this past January, the care of my wonderful stepfather and just our lives in general. I could not have done this alone without the prayers of encouragement, our neighbors and friends and families.

We are looking forward to a wonderful Spring when we can have our grandchildren visit, we can get out more, and feel a great sense of freedom from hospital and doctor visits and chemo.

Please keep praying. Joel will not be considered cured for 5 years. But, we are confident he will remain in remission. He is looking forward to going back to the school around the end of March or first of April. This is a huge milestone for him and one that signals the time for moving forward.

Love to All!

Friday (Jan.16)

So much has happened since my last posted blog on Sunday, Jan. 4. On Monday morning, Jan. 5th, my Mom passed away. Evidently, she had been in quite some pain over the weekend but didn't tell me about it because she knew I would make her go to the hospital. She had told me several weeks ago that she was ready to go and that she did not want to go to her heart doctor or to the hospital. She said she wanted to be at home and in her bed when the time came. She got her wish. My Dad was with her and she went peacefully.

At her request 20 years ago, she had bequeathed her body to Wake Forest Medical School. She had also requested that there be no services. We held a visitation only at her church on Wednesday night. I'm really glad we did that, because I saw and heard how much my Mom was loved and will be missed by so many people.

My Dad is taking this really hard. He and Mom were very close and he is just lost. Joel and I have tried taking him out to eat and to do errands with us just to get him out of the house. He and Mom had been married 42 years. (If you're trying to figure out how they had only been married 42 years and I am 62, he is my stepfather whom I love more than any daughter could love her Dad.)

Please pray for us through this very hard time in our lives. Joel will start the next round of chemo this coming Tuesday, Jan. 20 for 3 days in a row. This drug will knock his platelet counts down and he may lose his hair again. Since he is not in as bad of shape now as he was in September when he first entered the hospital, we are hoping he will not get as low as he did then.

We hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year's. We appreciate so much all the cards, flowers and prayers sent to us. We are blessed to have such good friends and family.

Sunday (January 4)

We have finally reached a milestone in Joel's chemo. He finished up 10 weeks of arsenic chemo on Friday, Jan. 2. We are so happy to finally have this behihd him. He will now have 2 weeks off during which time he will be going to work for a few hours each day. His blood counts should continue to go up while during this 2 week period and prepare him for the next phase. On January 20th, he will return to Baptist as an outpatient for 3 consecutive days of a chemo drug that he received while he was in the hospital in September. It is one of the "bad" ones that may cause his hair to fall out or then again and will lower his blood counts again. After the 3 days of treatment, he will then have to stay home for a few weeks while his blood counts recover and he regains his strength. After 6 weeks of rest and recovery, he will again have 3 days of the same drug. This drug is make sure that all the cancer cells are killed. At the end of the 2nd 3-day treatment, he will have a bone marrow test to determine if all cells are gone. That is a really big prayer for us right now. We want so much for him to be in full remission and for our lives to get back to normal? (Is there such a thing as a normal life anymore?)

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. We will need them again especially during these next 3 months as he finishes the last part of his treatment.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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