Third Chemo Infusion of this 3 Week Cycle...CHECK!

This morning Joe had his final round of this chemo cycle at the Duke Cancer Center.  He now gets a week off!  Lucky him!  Although his lab work was done in a timely manner, he had to wait until 9:30ish for his 8:30am appointment.  His lab work this time showed his white cell count very low so he has to be aware of anyone with sniffles or cold/flu like symptons for the next week or so.  I'm sure there will be a lot of hand washing going on along with lots of hand sanitizers.  But he got his infusion done and that is the most important thing.

This has been a particularly trying week for Joe.  On Sunday afternoon soon after returning home from church, he received a text from his sister informing him that his Aunt Sue had died during the night.  This came as a big shock to the entire family since she had not previously been ill.  They did an autopsy to determine the cause of death but as of yet, we have not learned the cause.  His late aunt and her husband, Ward, live in Rocky Mount so that is where we will be spending a large portion of the weekend.  Tomorrow evening is the visitation and then the funeral will be on Saturday.  Besides having to deal with the loss of his aunt, whom he loved dearly, this weekend means that we will be in the presence of his mother and sister for the first time since the "ruckus" of March.  Already, both of us are tensing up over that aspect.

On a lighter note, we will have the chance to see our niece Brittany.  This will be the first time we have seen her since her recent gall bladder surgery.  That part we are both looking forward too.  Also, this week, of course, was the Amendment One debacle.  That right there was enough to cast a dark shadow over everything but last night we shook off the blues and went to see "Wicked" at DPAC.  This was our 4th time and we loved it as much as the first time.  Ironically, Joe's Aunt Sue had been at DPAC last Thursday to see "Wicked" and had remarked to Joe afterwards that she wanted to see it again.  We wish she could have been there with us last night.  Joe had organized a group of 48 people, mostly from PGUMC, to see the show and from what I overheard from those in attendance, it was a big success.  It was great to see so many people out of the usual PGUMC setting.  I don't even remember everyone who was there but we did have a chance to talk to Challie, Lucinda, Danny, Julie, Elizabeth, Colin, Meredith, Julia, Paul, Meagan, Donna, Mike....oh, there's no use in me trying to remember everyone we talked too.  Joe's cousin Steve Woolum even came over from Asheville for the show.  We had a great time and hope everyone who was in attendance did too!

Thanks to everyone who has emailed, called and texted us this week offering support.  Your prayers and good thoughts are so greatly appreciated.