Yippeee, hip, hip hooray, yaba, daba, dooooooooooooo!

JOEY HAS COMPLETED HIS VERY LAST DAY OF CHEMO! What a way to start the New Year. Hope everyone's New Year started off just as superbly.

Chemo on Dec. 26th-28th went okay with the usual delays and stuff but the treatments remained fairly innocuous. Today's treatment went extremely well - could it be because it was the last one!?! Oh yeah did I mention it was the last day of chemo.

In all seriousness, Joey's chemo today resulted in the same fever spiking and nausea but none of this is new and it is now done. The restaging process has already begun. He had a EKG, pulmonary function test and Echocardiogram this week. The results of the pulmonary show that without the huge tumor around his trachea and bronchia his lung capacity and volume are better than the above average "healthy" male. So we guess that is why he only scored as an above average male on the original pulmonary test. He has the PET, CT and x-rays next week which will be sent to the Children's Oncology Group to see if he is a complete responder (his results after the second cycle showed he was a complete metabolic responder). All his tumors need to be gone completely. If gone, he moves on to being randomized to radiation or no radiation. Best we can tell we will know which way he will be going on or about Jan. 19 or 20.

There are several issues at hand with the radiation therapy - too many to go into here - but suffice it to say nothing in this world of cancer is ever clear cut. So, again we ask prayers of wisdom, guidance and acceptance for all those involved in making the final determination as to whether Joey has the radiation treatment. We will promptly let you know the outcome.

Happy New Year and bless you all,
Cindy