Update on Baby Joey -- Keep Praying

Chris and I brought Joseph home yesterday -- very fitting that it was Independence Day! He seemed to tolerate his first round of chemotherapy well. He had to have a blood transfusion to increase his red blood cells, but the doctors said that we could expect that to happen during the course of treatment. Unfortunately, his increased blood supply/energy kicked in right around 11pm when I was on hospital duty...needless to say, I was not a happy camper at 1am when he was still full of energy!

Joseph is on a 42 week treatment schedule. The one thing Chris and I are both learning throughout this entire process is that we cannot plan anything. However, for the most part, his treatment schedule will be as follows -- he received a big round of treatment this past Friday, meaning that he received three chemo drugs which required him to stay in the hospital for a few days. He will receive a smaller dose of chemo this Friday and next Friday, and then he will receive a very large chemo treatment the following Friday which will require us to be in the hospital for at least five to six days. For the most part, we can plan on being in the hospital for at least eight days each month. We are discussing possible surgery in about 12 weeks, and then he will continue chemo after that. However, so much of this is dependent on how Joseph tolerates the drugs. So far, he has done great, so we just hope and pray that that will continue.

Chris and I are starting to feel like honorary nurses with the shots that we provide him and the flushing of his lines, so I think we will be asking for hospital scrubs for Christmas!! For the most part, we will not be straying far from home throughout the next 11 months. We are able to take Joseph outside and to a few places, but since there will be times that he will be completely unable to fight infection, we really do have to limit where we go and who we expose him to.

At this point, we really need the continued prayers and support. Chris and I are both truly grateful for the kind words, encouraging messages and tremendous generosity we have received thus far. We try to stay optimistic about this entire process, and it makes it much easier knowing we have such an unbelievable support system. Joseph is truly a fighter, so if he can muster up the strength to fight this, we can to.

Once again, thank you for everything. We will continue to keep you all posted with any information. Chris is working on setting up a website that will provide regular updates.

Much love,
Meghan