July 22, 2011

Johnna lost her battle around lunch time on Friday July 22, 2011.  We know she's no longer in pain and joyfully singing praises with the angels, but it's still hard not having her here with us anymore.  We want to thank everyone for their prayers and their thoughts, kind words, cards and letters of encouragement, financial support and emotional support you've all provided to her and to us as we fought this war.  As she would have told you, she may have lost this battle, but the war was won before she even began it...

Don Moen - If You Could See Me Now Lyrics

Our prayers have been answered
I finally arrived
The healing that had been delayed
Is now realized
No one's in a hurry
There's no schedule to keep
We're all enjoying Jesus
Just sitting at His feet
If you could see me now
I'm walking streets of gold
If you could see me now
I'm walking tall and whole
If you could see me now
You'd know I've seen His face
If you could see me now
You'd know the pain's erased
You wouldn't want me
to ever leave this place
If only you could see me now
My light and temporary trials
Have worked out for my good
To know it brought Him glory
When I misunderstood
Though we've had our sorrows
They can never compare
To what Jesus has in store for us
No language can compare

WE NEED EXTRA PRAYER POWER ... Johnna not reacting well to new drug; has been going downhill since it was administered. Today all counts are poor; kidney function decreasing - results quickly rising to level where they will put her on dialysis; doctor not giving much info; they are saying we are "hoping for her system problems to reverse themselves" - she has had four platelet transfusions this week and will need another today; there is a lump in the liver now which could be a cyst or another tumor; we're trying to sked an MRI to verify what it is (I saw it in there when we did the ultrasound and it's rather large) ... so what we need is prayer that the lump in the liver is only a cyst and that all her other body functions that have gone awry as a result of this new medicine reverse themselves and go back to normal or at least to a safe range.

Thank you and God Bless ...


update from Kara

They are NOT doing the MRI because they think it will be too hard on Jo.  Dr. G is convinced it is a tumor not a cyst.  They are talking dialysis but are waiting until they can figure out what is going on with her lungs.  They're limited on the tests they can do because of her weakened state but are going to try to do some kind of specialized test to check for clots.  She hasn't been able to be on the blood thinners because they can't get the platelets up.

Anyway, that's what I know now.  We can't make any decisions about "what now" until we can get her well again.

PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!

We went into the hospital Weds morning; got a picc put in; was advised Jo's hemoglobin was low. At first they were going to delay the chemo until after 2 units of blood, but then they decided they could start the chemo and give her the blood while the chemo was running. We came home last night. She tolerated the new drug well while we were in the hospital; so far since we've been home, the major side effect has been tiredness. She hasn't been awake for more than ten mins at a time since we came home. Since she was already tired when we went into the hospital and one of the common side effects of this drug is tiredness, we are not surprised by the level of her fatigue. I'm keeping an eye on her for a fever (or nausea/vomiting) as those are the hot points for calling the doctor; otherwise, I'm letting her sleep. She was up to take her medicine and up to eat a little dinner, but mostly she's sleeping. She has developed a cough during the day, which troubles me a little, but again, we're just being watchful.

God has richly blessed us in so many ways; we are thankful for his continued care and for your prayers. Jo was able to attend and be a part of Kara's wedding and was a beautiful maid of honor. We have high hopes for this new drug (since it's derived from a sea squirt, it's organic and not man-made). We continue to thank God for his infinite wisdom and guidance and his love for us. God bless us every one.

We had our dr's appointment; dr was rather noncommital re the arm pain; Jo said she thought he might think it's another tumor, but I didn't get that impression-I think he either doesn't know or doesn't want to say his thoughts on the matter. He was more interested in her lack of energy and low eating habit. He prescribed prednesone to boost her energy and her appetite (she's lost 68 lbs). / He did get permission to administer the new drug here in Springfield, so we won't have to go to Peoria and get used to new people and a new routine. He doesn't have any further information on it, however, because they won't send it until Jo's physical condition meets their criteria. He was sending her labs and progress report to them after our appointment on Tuesday. / He was non-responsive to her announcement that she didn't want to do any more treatments until after July 4th weekend. He just said we'd have to see what information we received regarding the new drug. Then he said he would be out of town until June 21 and made an appointment for us to come in then to discuss the new drug (presuming he has the info by then and Jo's physical condition is improved or at least holding stable). We explained that Kara is getting married on July 2nd and Jo was crying when she told him she's already missed one family wedding but she's not going to miss this one. At that point, he made no comment, but at the end of the session he said that he didn't want to make her miss her sister's wedding, but we'd have to abide by the info we receive from the people governing the new drug we want to use. We'll build the wedding bridge when we get to the river (on 6/21, I imagine). / She's been on the prednesone for two days; it has helped her appetite and her energy level is a little higher. We put the Fentanyl patch back on and it's helping with the arm pain; still there, but more manageable. / As always, we thank each of you for your continued prayers, good thoughts and moral support. We continue to look to God knowing He is in charge and His faithful love will sustain us. "But Jesus beheld them and said unto them, 'With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'" - Matthew 19:26 - Miracles still happen every day; praise the Lord. / Take care and God bless ...

As most of you know, we came home Sun afternoon, May 1st, from the chemo trip. On Weds nite, May 4, Jo was too sick to stand up or even get out of bed; I called an ambulance to get her to the hospital. After several tests and dr opinions, it was determined that the ifosphomide has affected her brain stem causing severe problems with her equilibrium. Dr. G says it will take some time to get better.

Although we finally got them to agree to take out the picc that's been hurting her since they put it in on April 15th, the arm pain has not gone away. I fear some permanent nerve damage; she has told them all since the beginning that it wasn't in right, but couldn't get anyone's attention until May 14th. Because it's a constant pain and has been for so long, it keeps her down. She's taking several meds right now for various reasons, including pain meds every six hours due to the arm pain. Our next appointment is May 31st when we will discuss a new drug; however, her physical condition will need to be in better shape before we will start something new.

To all of you who participated in any way with the fund raisers that were held for Jo, we cannot express our appreciation enough. Most of you know Jo's long-term disability was denied because of "pre-existing"; therefore, our income is quite limited right now. Your generosities in giving of your time, resources, cards, calls, texts, thoughts and prayers are the most precious things to us and your efforts help keep us going. "Thank You" to each of you and God bless and keep you, every one.

It's Mom ... we got home a little while ago. Took us awhile to get the cardiac, renal, infectious disease and oncology doctors to all "sign-off" so we could come home, but we made it. Jo still looks like she has a really bad sunburn from the allergic reaction to some medications. Fortunately, we had a really nice infectious disease (I.D.) doctor this time and she was reasonable. And, Dr. Kahn (the onc dr on duty for April and the one who prescribed the four new meds at the same time back in October '08 and kept us in the hospital for 16 days) didn't fight us when we said she was allergic to the med he had prescribed; he just stopped it and called I.D. Dr. Kahn's resident had started another antibiotic before that which we thought Jo wasn't allergic to; however, it seems she was; but the ID dr stopped that one immediately and started giving her daptomycin which was the drug we came home with last December. She had four bags of blood and two bags of platelets during our stay. We are still closely watching her potassium (for her heart primarily) and her creatinine and bicarbonate (for her kidneys). We brought home oral meds for both of those problems. Her counts are now acceptable and her appetite is coming back. She's easily fatigued, of course-having spent the last 13 days and part of today in bed-, but she was more than ready to come home. This is our first hospital visit where she has helped me pack our stuff to come home.

We have a dr's appt w/onc nurse practioner on Tuesday; a blood draw appointment on Thursday and an appointment with onc Dr. Godwin on Monday the 9th. We are hopeful Dr. Godwin will have more news on the Japanese drug and Peoria on Monday. I'm not sure Jo will do another ifosphomide since they told us last Friday her reactions will just get worse.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers and thoughts; and a special thanks to those of you who so faithfully visit and/or text/call. We cannot tell you how much we appreciate all of you. God bless every one.

QUICK update

Wow, it's been awhile... mainly because we've been REALLY busy.  Jo came into the hospital for chemo on Monday the 18th and we're still here.  At first they can't get the vomiting under control and she wasn't keeping anything, including water down. Then her counts started to bottom out and we've had issues with the kidneys, platelets, white blood counts, potassium, etc. so she stayed in on almost constant transfusion of one thing or another...  then Wednesday night she developed a neutropenic fever.  They though it was sepsis, but now maybe not, we don't know... but we're still dealing with infectious disease trying to figure out why we're having such a problem keeping the fever down (last night it spiked up to over 103)... and we've been seeing kidney people and cardiac people because whatever is causing this fever also seems to be causing spikes in her creotine levels and heart rate (it was close to 200 bpm last night)...

Anyway, we'll definately be here still through monday.  I keep people WAY more up to date on facebook because it's easy to do that from my blackberry and do it quickly, so if you have a page, come friend me if you want faster updates.

Hope everyone else is well.

It's Mom ... Praise God for this is the day that he has made ...

Just a quick update: Jo had a CT done on Monday around noon; they called a couple of hours later to say she had a PE (pulmonary embolism or blood clot) and that we needed to increase her Lovenox (blood thinner) from 150 per day to 200 (100 in morning/100 in evening) to try to break it up. So she now gets two shots in the stomach per day ... not her favorite thing and who can blame her?

We went to the doctor today and he said the following:

• the clot(s) seem to be coming from the picc lines so he wants to take them out of the right arm and put them in the left (not a pleasant procedure, but has to be done). He wants it done tomorrow or Friday; they are to call with the schedule


• 
  
  the tumors seem to be holding steady (no shrinkage, but no growth either) so he wants to do another round of ifosphomide. We (Jo and I) were going to hold out for week after next because of Easter, but Dr. Godwin thinks it's best to stay on the 3-wk sked since we do seem, in fact, to be holding steady, so we agreed to next week, but we will go in on Monday instead of Tuesday. We really don't want to be in the hospital over a holiday if at all possible. Staffing is bad enough on a weekend, but holidays are horrible.


• 
  
  Doc has been working on Plan B and has found a drug that is being used in Japan (and approved there) that seems to be very effective on Jo's kind of sarcoma. The drug has not been approved in the US; however, the government does allow it through some "compassionate" program, but only in one place in each state. He asked to set it up at SIU/Simmons Cancer Institute, but was told there's already one set up in Peoria. He was going to check out MO's to see if it might be at Barnes, but we told him Peoria works for us. He is going to speak with the oncologists up there and get back to us. The plan is for him to get information for us on the drug and set up a preliminary interview with the doctors in Peoria who are using the drug. We will continue to use the ifosphomide as long as it seems to be working ... or as long as Jo can stand it ... but, in the meantime if it doesn't seem to be working and/or we have an emergency/urgent situation, we will have a back-up plan in place.

This is all good news (w/the exception of the picc problem, of course). Thank you for your prayers and support. It's only by God's grace that we are where we are; and it's by your prayer power that God continues to bless us because where two or more are gathered (even in long-distance prayer), he is there and he honors our requests. I also want to thank each of you for the additional prayers you send for our family members as well. Without too much detail, I ask you to hold all of the following up in your prayers:

Johnna's brother, Daniel -- her dad, Kyle -- Gary's dad, Maynard -- my brother, Bob -- my mom, Betty; Dad, Don; and brothers, Bill & Mike

Some of the above either just got out of the hospital or are still there; please remember them when you pray for Jo.

BTW, since we plan to be in the hospital next week, I'll tell you in advance that I plan to take Jo's phone from her for the week (and even if I hadn't already decided to do so, her doctor has recommended it ;o). Doc is planning to alter her premedications to see if that will help the mind-bending effects of the ifosphomide. Either way, Jo won't be sending any SOS texts this round (if I can help it :) You can call or text me at 502-4300 instead.

Well, aren't you glad this was a "quick" update?!? Think how long it would have been had I decided to give you details instead of a synopsis ;o)

"Love one another as Christ loves you, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost and being committed to the word of His grace, which is able also to build you up." - from "The Bible Incorporated In Your Life, Job & Business" Take care and God Bless ...

Quick update

Hey everyone.  Thought I'd do a really fast update on my lunch break.  Bullet points:

• Jo's in the hospital (room 260 at Memorial) getting a round of Ifofsomide (I have no idea if I'm spelling that right)
• She went in on Tuesday... that same day we found out her long term disability was denied because they're considering this a "pre-existing condition" (not because of 2008 cancer but because of surgery to remove tumor last July...after the policy was already in effect... figure that one out).  REALLY don't know what we're going to do about that, but one issue at a time.
• The Ifofsomide is definately the medicine causing "the crazys" as we call them.  After one dose of the chemo this time, Jo's already pretty loopy and out of it.  And having a harder time laughing at herself about it because she's so frustrated.  She was trying to recite "Ring around the rosies" to Donn and me last night (don't ask, we talk about random things) and she couldn't get the words right... which made us all laugh but made her cry (and is making me cry remembering... because GOD she's GOT to be so frustrated!).  And then later told me that because I was working in Springfield today I could bring her some work to do... some of MY work... we have no idea why she thought she would need, want or be able to work on anything for my job... (except maybe it made sense in the jumbled mess of her brain because she convinced she has to go back to work now because of the money issues)... 
• She gets the crazies because this drug has central nervous system (CNS) toxicity as well as renal toxicity (they give her meds to help protect her kidneys on the renal toxicity, but there aren't ones for the CNS toxicity).  CNS toxicities include delirium, confusion, lethargy, drowsiness, disorientation, hallucinations, stupor, personality changes, mutism, encephalopathy (any brain disease), muscle twitching, incontinence, seizure, coma and potentially death...  As you can see from the underlines, she's experienced a lot of these already so, thankfully the next point is where we're trying to head...
• The doctor is hopeful that this is the last time she'll have to do the Ifos.  But, as mom said last post, that's going to be contingent on finding an alternative (and getting insurance to improve it.  I am telling you, I am ready to go on a freaking crusade against medical and LTD insurance companies right about now!)
• As is Par, they're not going to get out in 3 days.  They are almost a full day behind on her 2nd dose of the ifos. because they couldn't get her specific gravity (sg) down low enough after the 1st dose to administer the next (sg has something to do with her renal function so there's like a "safety" zone where it will start being worse on the kidneys if her sg is too high...)  Add to the frustration...

Anyway, that's the update I've got for you now...

It's Mom ... sorry neither Kara nor I have had or made time to post. Jo had a scan done on the 10th; we met with the dr on the 15th. The good news is the tumors seem to be staying the same size or, with some, even a little smaller. The challenge news is she can't have any more of the chemo drug (doxyrubicin) that seemed to be working. (It weakens the heart so there are lifetime limitations.) She had to have a potassium infusion on Thursday, but, barring any other unforeseens, we will go into the hospital on Tuesday morning for another treatment of the chemo drug ifosphomide ... it's the one that makes her so sick, but is usually given with the doxyrubicin. She had two rounds of ifos before the doxy this time and it didn't seem to do anything to the tumors. We will do another scan after only one more treatment of the ifos to see if it is doing anything at all; in the meantime, the dr is trying to find an alternative treatment. He was thinking about Barnes again, but they've already told us the study they are doing does not have positive results for Jo's kind of sarcoma so, unless they've come up with something really recent, that won't be an option. We are taking Tuesday's news as good news and will continue to pray for God's intervention with another drug ... or just a plain miracle, since I'm sure He's still in that business, too.


Jo had a nice surprise in the mail on Tuesday; she received a BIG packet of individual cards from her friends and co-workers at H.D. Smith. She's planning to make an 'official' thank you note, but I wanted to tell everyone how delighted she was reading the cards and talking to me about the individuals who sent them. They called it a "card shower" and it truly made her happy. So, a BIG THANKS to all who participated ... it was a wonderful idea!!! And, a big thank you to each of you who send her cards; some of you are very faithful in that regard and, believe me, it is very much appreciated. She loves snail mail because she can go back through them later and re-read them; we keep them in a special packet so she can go through them any time she wants.


Jo has been having trouble with her eyes for the past few days; she's lost all of her eye lashes so there's nothing there to protect her eyes from anything that may be passing by. She's been tired and resting quite a bit, but some of that is because I haven't been feeling well and she doesn't want to ask me to do much. Those of you who know her well know that's the way she is; even when she's ill, she's thinking about others.

As always, thanks to each of you for your prayers, thoughts and general support. We are truly blessed to have all of you as our friends and support group.

Deuteronomy 7:9 "So know that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God. He will keep his agreement of love for a thousand lifetimes for people who love him and obey his commands."

Psalm 116:1-2 "I love the Lord, because he listens to my prayers for help. He paid attention to me, so I will call to him for help as long as I live."

Latest

Just a little update:

Jo went in for her appointments this morning.  Her counts weren't good.  And she was feeling very poorly.  They went to the hospital where they did two units of blood and potassium (I don't know if they did more than that...).  They've been there since 1 and aren't home yet.  The hope is that they'll be done there at 9:30 tonight.  They gave her a bed/room instead of just a chair in the transfusion unit because she was feeling so poorly...

She goes in at 1 on Thursday for the tests to see what change, if any, has been going on with the tumors... We should know those results at her appointment on Monday...

That's what I have right now.

another update

Let's see... it's been a day...

Johnna went in... counts are really bad... she's netropenic (which means her white blood cells are very low) and her platlets are basically non-existant at 17 (low is considered around 300... and platlets help fight infection)...  She was at the hospital almost all day today doing a platlet transfusion.  They should have admitted her, technically but all the doctors and nurses like Johnna so much and she REALLY didn't want to go in... she has to go back for another transfusion on Saturday and on Monday, though.  Her nurse practioner thought she hadn't gotten her Nulasta shot (the one that boosts the immune system) her counts were so low...

The biggest issue is going to be keeping her from being exposed to any illness because if she gets ANYTHING right now, it's going to be a major deal.  And it might already be too late.  Mom's been really sick since they were in the hospital.  And Ciera's been with mom for the last few days because Daniel and Chassidy have been bouncing around to urgent cares trying to figure out what's wrong with Talor.  Who is now admitted in Peds at St. John's.  They're not certain yet whether it's just a weird virus or this new flu strain that's putting down all of Sprinfield (ER wait in the middle of the night last night was 6 hours... and it was the same at the other hospital).  Talor was so dehydrated her muscles started to liquify to provide nutrients (raising her lactic acid levels).  So they've been working to get her hydrated so they can bring down the lactic acid levels... may get to go home tomorrow, but they don't know yet (yay for all of this with no insurance...)

Anyway, if it does end up being this flue strain the incubation period is 14 days, and Jo's been around Ciera and Dan A LOT this last week... so we just don't know that she's going to make it without catching something, not with how low her counts are.

So prayers would be helpful.  She's very run down, as is mom... and dan... and chas... who haven't gotten more than a couple hours of sleep at a time for 4 days now... and ciera who is super hyper with all the lack of sleep being had by all...

So far Donn and I have avoided all the sickness, but we're also the last two who are well enough (or not sleep deprived enough) to take care of people.  And we're managing... but if anyone else comes down with this bug (which is likely with how run down they are), or mom doesn't get better soon or if Johnna starts even the slightest fever, espeically while Talor is still hospitalized, the human resources available are going to run REALLY thin...so prayers would DEFININTELY be appreciated!

Update from Kara

Hi all.  Wanted to give a quick update.  Jo had her post-chemo doctor's appointment today.  Platlet counts are low, but always are after chemo.  She'll go back to check again Thursday, but we're probably looking at a platlet transfusion later this week (again, normal MO for her the week after chemo).  Mom has been super sick (got a ferociously bad cold while she was at the hospital with Jo last week) so it's been pretty quiet at the house.  Lots of sleeping (though I hear homemade vegetable soup and bread was part of the menu this weekend)...  She's back on the Fentenol (msp???) but on the lowest possible dose.  Getting back to pain med levels of pain is a bit worrisome (remember all the crazies we had with too much pain med??) but necessary where she's at right now.  We'll do tests next week to see our progress (shooting for the 10th) and she has an appointment the morning of the 14th to discuss those results and the next plan of action.  It's been thrown around doing another round of the 1st type of chemo (not our favorite plan), another type of chemo or revisiting Barnes to see about what options they might have.  But again, not much to go on without the test results.

Anyway, that's the scoop as of now... peace...

It's Mom ... came home from hospital last night. Went by Cancer Clinic after hospital discharge and got her Neulasta shot (it always hurts her b/c it's the one that goes in the upper underarm, which even a baby's pinch hurts ... and it's the one that makes all of her bones ache in a few days; but, it's also the one that helps rebuild her counts). I contracted a grievous cold while in the hospital and I'm not sure there's any way she isn't going to get it. Although we attempt to stay sterile, sometimes I think just breathing the same air in a house can pass it around. But God is good and fully in charge, so it will be okay. She's resting today; still has an appetite, which is a good sign. Says she feels "puky", but she still gets hungry, so again, a good sign. We don't know what the next step is going to be since she has now had all of this drug that is considered "safe" for a lifetime (it deteriotes the heart). We have a dr's appt on Monday to see where we go from here.

Thanks to all for everything ... we thank God for you. I have a little book from Honor Books Publishing (Cook Communications Ministries) which doesn't give me authors to reveal, but it has Letters from God (based on scripture), which I am thoroughly enjoying. This is the one on health and healing:

"My Daughter,

My desire is for you to live in health all the days of your life. Bring Me your pain, sorrow and grief and I will give you joy and health. Hold on to Me because I am your strength. I want you to live out all the days of your life and fulfill every plan I have set before you. I am the Lord who heals you.

God"

Scriptures:

Yes, I will bless the Lord and not forget the glorious things he does for me. He forgives all my sins. He heals me. -- Psalm 103:2-3 TLB

O Lord my God, I called out to you for help and you healed me. -- Psalm 30:2 NIV

"I will restore you to health and I will heal you of your wounds", declares the Lord. -- Jeremiah 30:17 NASB

I am the Lord who heals you. -- Exodus 15:26 NIV

You who fear my name, the Son of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture. -- Malachi 4:2 TLB

Praise the Lord! In Everything ... Give Thanks. God Bless ...

Chemo week

Jo and mom are at the hospital for chemo week number... I don't remember.  Just another chemo week that is her life...  The orders had some medication frequencies that she didn't like (would pretty much make her sleep or be out of it the whole time and we don't like that.  Too much potential for craziness to come back that way... and she's in the middle of a book series and says she has to catch the serial killer :) ).  Anyway, we expect her to be in through Wednesday at least.  We'll be updating as we can.  Love to all :)

It's Mom -- Jo had her dr's appt on Thursday and her counts were good; we're scheduled for an echogram tomorrow afternoon and another dr's appt on Thursday. If all looks good with the echogram (the doxirubicin can affect the heart so we're trying to watch it closely), and, if her counts are still up on Thursday, we will start another round of doxirubicin on Monday morning (2-21). We'll be in the hospital at least three days (but, as most of you know, it's a toss-up on how long for sure). Jo is feeling tired a lot and gets frustrated at not having enough energy to do things she'd like to do, but her cold is better and we're hopeful she'll be out of the house some this week, weather permitting. With the warm weather melting the snow, our driveway and yard is like a mud pit (it's almost as slick as the ice we had) so we have to be careful to not pull in the yard or we may be stuck there (which makes it interesting getting to the car!)

Jo and I wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day (and a special happy birthday wish to a special guy!) As usual, our thanks to all for your continued support; we are very appreciative and couldn't make it without your prayers and best wishes. Take care and God bless ...

1John 4:10-11 "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another."

It's Mom ... Johnna has a cold; we'll have to watch closely for fevers, per dr. She stayed in bed all day Saturday (watched the extended version of the Lord of the Rings trilogy) and was up only a little on Sunday. She did not watch the Super Bowl or go to her dad's for his birthday, so that tells you how she was feeling. We had a dr appt yesterday; her platelet count was up and the rest of her counts were okay. We have to flush her two pic lines every day (they were still having trouble drawing blood from them) and we have to watch for fevers due to her cold; as Kara said earlier, her activities are restricted to no more than two hours at one time. Her chest is still hurting some, but now we can't tell if it's the cold or something else; therefore, again, we're watching. Today, she's still in bed and watching various DVDs (currently 'Transformers') ... We have another dr appt on Thurs at which time they will again run blood tests and we will discuss with Dr. Godwin the chemo plan (as far as we know at this time, it will be doxirubicin again.)

Thanks to all for your continued support. God bless ...
Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." (KJV)

Chemo Pushed off until the 21st

Well Jo and mom went in to the doctor today.  Her platlets were down so she's in the hospital now to get a transfusion.  Her counts won't be back up high enough to do chemo as scheduled on the 14th so she'll now be doing it on the 21st.  She's also in a lot of pain today.  Apparently, she tried too much yesterday.  She was out of the house for a few hours to grab some food and run by the store (which incidently took much longer than it probably would have without all the snow, but...).  She's now restricted ot activities and being out only if it will take less than 2 hours.  THAT's a bummer.  We'll have to see what that means for superbowl sunday/dad's birthday...

Anyway, that's the update I have.  Have a good weekend, everyone :)

Jo is having good/bad/good/bad, which is usual for after chemo. We had a dr's appt today, but due to the weather forecast, we changed it to yesterday (which was a good thing since our drive-way is currently a sheet of ice covered with snow). Her counts were good yesterday; she was actually feeling good when we were at the dr's. Dr. Godwin made comment as he came in the door that she was certainly looking good for just having chemo last week. Today, she felt pretty good when she got up, but after she ate, she started feeling poorly again and has been in bed ever since. She had her neulasta shot on Friday afternoon; that's supposed to help her immune system, but since it goes into the bone marrow somehow, it always makes all of her bones hurt (usually 2-5 days after the shot). One of her friends brought her a wonderful home-made lasagna meal on Sunday. It was wonderful! Jo ate a really good portion of the salad, bread and lasagna. It was really, really good ... thanks again, Allison!

Dan has come over twice since we came home; she so enjoys visiting with him. They get to talking about twelve different topics at the same time, always keeping the thread going on each of them, often with opposite opinions on the subjects, and almost always things about which I know nothing ;o), e.g., computers, music, politics, etc. He and Chass have so much going on (both in school; the 4-yr old and 1-yr old, etc.), he doesn't get to see her as much as she'd like, but they make up for lost time when they can. He's good medicine for her and he always makes all of us laugh; he could have been a stand-up comic. It's good for Jo to talk to someone other than me (she already knows everything I know; she needs new food for thought.)

We have another dr's appt on Friday. They'll check her counts again then. (Good thing the appt isn't before then 'cause I don't think I would get her there; we're currently having a white-out up here on the hill.) If all goes well with counts, we will see the dr again on the following Thursday with the next chemo probably starting on Monday, Feb. 14th.

Thanks again to all for everything: prayers, thoughts, cards, food, etc. Just knowing there are so many people out there who are praying and keeping the faith helps us to keep ours. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. According to Mark 9:23 (NIV): "Everything is possible for him who believes." No wonder "keep the faith" is such a popular phrase. It may be a cliche, but that's what we need and are asking you to do ... keep the faith.

Johnna's home

Still dealing with some nausea, but still better than after the last round.  She's planning on having a low key weekend.  Thanks for all the prayers :)