Hi all
Joey is doing quite well. Since last Monday when he had his "day 8 chemo" he has been pretty tired and weak. This is all a result of the chemo doing its thing and simultaneously messing with his blood counts. When these get low it indicates immune system weakening and his body in turn gets very weak (think anemia big time). He had his lab work (blood counts) done last Thursday and they were low (he was 680 ANC and he needs to be at 1500 ANC) so he stayed out of crowds and continued getting the Neupogen injections to help get his white blood cell counts up. His white counts today were way up (yeah - no more injections for this cycle) but his hemoglobin is lower (so he is still tired) and has lost about 6 pounds. He hit balls at the range early last week but we think that might be what caused some extreme back pain. Besides he actually did more resting than golfing. He is also dealing with some throat ulcers but we think we have that under control thanks to something called Magic Mouthwash (no joke that is the name!). To combat all this yucky stuff he has had to eat a lot of protein, they prefer red meat (because of the iron) which, being the carnivore he is, doesn't bother him a bit. Steak, steak, and more steak. The bit of hair he had after his buzz cut is falling out at a pretty steady rate so the next picture of him may be bald!

Homebound school did start last week and he really likes his teacher. So that is back on track.

Cycle 2 starts next Monday (Nov. 12) with the three days of chemo. And it begins again. I think we have a lot more knowledge going in this time so hopefully it won't be nearly as tumultuous.

As always we are so grateful to each of you for the well wishes, positive energy and prayers.
Health, hope and love
Cindy