4.15.08

Sorry for the lag in posts. Life got busy in a very normal kind of way. How refreshing.

John had his regular doc appt last Friday. Overall it went well. The doc decreased his level of steroid again (ultimate goal, to get off it completely). Some days the steroids make his face quite swollen, especially at night when he is very tired. Still on the chemo (the worst kind, ...can cause leukemia or bladder cancer, ...ultimate goal, to eventually downgrade that to a different, less risky kind of chemo) and the antibiotics. The steroids are still messing up his glucose levels, so still on the insulin, but less often. It seems to be leveling itself out a bit and some days are better than others. As for the bloodclot, it's still an issue. John's leg gets tired and swollen easily and he has to watch his activity level, though he is really trying to get back into the swing of things slowly.

There was an issue with his blood readings last Friday in regard to his blood thinner levels. Apparently his blood is thickening, ...never good when you already have a clot. So they have increased his level of thinner. That makes me nervous but nervous seems to be my M.O. in 2008 so at least I'm consistent. haha.

John has s-l-o-w-l-y started back to work. The up side of working for yourself is that you can pick and choose when to take on new accounts. He has taken on one or two new ones that are only for a few short hours one time per week, and also resumed with one old client that is also just two hours once a week. Some days it wipes him out, other days it's a bit better. This morning when he left (he worked this a.m.) he has an ankle on his left leg (the one with the blood clot). When he returned, he didn't. It was all swollen and needing rest. Somedays he overdoes, I try not to mother hen him.

Thanks all for continued prayers. He is trying to get out more; went to church last week, tries to help with taking the kids to school or getting groceries (still in a scooter for those trips) and sometimes people see him out and assume he's completely healthy again. Sometimes jokes are made about him being in the scooter or whatever. I know people mean well, but it's hard to hear those things. "He's still very sick!" I want to yell; but of course, that's not going to happen. My point, in closing, is that John, the kids and I are still very much in need of your prayers and support as we leave the Winter journey of 'illness' and begin this Spring journey called 'recovery' (and cross our fingers that we do not arrive at a place called 'relapse').

It always nags at the back of my head that 50% of all patients relapse. Relapse can happen anytime over the next 3-20 years. 10% of all people with this die from it, and his chemo can cause cancers. I try to take it one day at a time knowing that the reality is that anyone can get hit by a bus tomorrow. It's still hard when it's someone you love.

Thank you so much. You all have no idea how much your support helps us get through this. We truly can feel your prayers at work.
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