Twas the Week Before Christmas and Jeff STILL has a Cold

That is my only defense for not posting anything in so long.  I have been battling a cold since early last week.  By this past Friday I had to leave work at lunch time and came on home.  I basically stayed in bed or laying on the couch from Friday at 1pm until we got up Sunday to go to church. (we get up at 6am - Joe has to be there at least an hour before the 8:30 service to practice the organ).

Last week was a huge week for Joe.  He had his regular doctor and chemo appointment on Monday the 12th.  It went well but we were told that his white blood cell count was down as well as his neutrophil count.  The neutrophil count is important because if it drops below 1.0 then they will either have to stop his chemo treatments for awhile or at the very least decrease the dosage.  On the 12th his was at 1.2, not much room for error.  So they tell us for him to be sure and be careful about being around anyone sick and if he should develop a sore throat or a slight fever, to call them at once.  Of course, that Monday is the same day my cold started kicking in. It made for an interesting week trying to keep my distance here in the same house.  However, Joe had a busy week of preparing for the church choir's Christmas music as well as his 4th Annual "Christmas Piano by Candlelight" concert.  Both of which were this past Sunday.

First the choir's performance.  They were magnificent!  I don't use the term lightly either so please believe me when I say it.  Never have they sounded so wonderful and the sanctuary been filled with more beautiful music.    Everyone in the congregation for both the 8:30am service (I did not attend except to take photos) and the 11:00am service was mesmerized.  Joe had arranged for a string quartet, french horn, flute, clarinet, piano and organ to accompany the choir and the sound was so full and glorious.  I wish everyone could have been there to hear it.  I was so proud of Joe and the entire choir.  I still smile thinking about it.

Even Jill was a "trooper" and agreed to put on one of the choir robes.  She played the piano beautifully and we are so grateful to her for stepping up once again and helping Joe out.  

Once the 11:00am service was over, it was time to transform the sanctuary for Joe's candlelight piano concert and then for him to practice some on the piano.

This is only 50 seconds of a couple of hours of rehearsal at the church on Sunday afternoon.  However, it paid off big time as his concert was a resounding triumph (yes, I know I'm getting carried away with the praise, but I can't think of another way to describe it).  Thank you so much to the 170+ people who came out Sunday night for the concert as well as the 3 people (Rob, Lola & Bert) in Connecticut who we Skyped in on my iPad2. They had the best seats in the house.  Lola referred to them as the "Royal Box Seats".  I have heard from several people about how nice it was to spend an evening listening to his beautiful music and to just slow down for an evening during this holiday rush time.  Afterwards, the senior high youth had arranged a reception for Joe in the fellowship.  They went all out with multi-colored lights hung around the walls and wonderful refreshments.  A big thank you to all of those that put forth such effort to make the reception happen.   Sunday was certainly a long day at church. I counted the number of hours we spent there on Sunday and it was more than 10.  Needless to say, we both got lots of religion that day.

Yesterday, Monday the 19th, Joe had his last doctors appointment of 2011.  We were a little nervous about what his white blood cell and neutrophil counts would be since I had been sick around him all week, but it turned out ok.  Actually better than ok.  His white count was up a point and his neutrophil was at 1.7 so he was able to have his usual chemo infusion without any change.  YAY!

This weekend at PGUMC we will have 2 Christmas Eve services.  The one at 4:00pm is geared toward families and is a lot of fun as it is interactive with all the kids in the church.  The 7:00pm service will be a more traditional communion service.  If someone is looking for somewhere to spend a lovely evening on Saturday, please consider the door at Pleasant Grove open and welcoming for you to stop in.   On Sunday, we will have one 11:00am service and then Joe and I will be off to Greenville to have Christmas lunch with his family and exchange gifts.  Then on Monday we will be in Hope Mills with my family.  A bit different than we typically do Christmas but we are very grateful that we are able to travel this Christmas like we have always done.  Last year with Joe just getting out of the hospital and undergoing his radiation treatments, both families had to come here.  It's much easier for 2 people to travel than it is for 9.

Joe and I both hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas and New Year.  We are so very grateful for all our friends and family and the prayers and good wishes that we have felt all year long.  Although this has been a difficult year, we have grown closer and have never felt more loved and cared for in all our lives.  Thank you for the gift of love that everyone has given us.

Wanna See Something Gorgeous?

So do you?  Well just take a look at the photo below.

Isn't that tree gorgeous?  And yeah, Joe looks nice too! He's all dolled up in his tuxedo for the TGMC Christmas Concert.  Tonight it was in Durham and on Sunday it is in Raleigh at 3pm at St. Marks Episcopal Church.  Tonight's concert was wonderful.  The chorus sang beautifully and of course Joe was great on the piano.  If anyone doesn't have plans on Sunday afternoon, I highly recommend a drive to St. Marks.   Of course no show is complete without a wardrobe malfunction.  Tonight it was Joe.  After the show he comes walking up with half of his vest hanging off his shoulder.  It was very Janet Jacksonesque.  As soon as we got home I had to get the old needle and thread out so he doesn't cause a scandal tomorrow in Raleigh.

Thanks to everyone who came out tonight to support the chorus and see Joe, especially Doris, Scott & Ken. It was great to see all of you.  Joe and I continue to be very grateful for all the prayers and good wishes.  We are so grateful this holiday season for our wonderful friends.  Your support continues to mean so much to us.

Monday morning we will be off to Duke for Joe's 7:20am doctor and chemo appointments.  

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

The picture below should say it all with regard to the results of Joe's latest CT Scan.

Joe is all smiles and so am I that the CT scan done of Friday showed no growth of the tumor. STATUS QUO.  It was a long anxious weekend waiting for this morning and the results.  But it was worth it for these results.  A few more months before we have to worry about another scan.  Now we can both relax a little and enjoy the Holiday Season.

Thank you to everyone for your prayers, thoughts and concerns.  Someone is listening.



Christmas Photos 2011

We've both been working all day (well Joe has, I finished up my part about 2 hours ago), but he is finishing up the 2nd Christmas tree.  Yes ladies and gentlemen, we have two trees.  The tree in the living room is the white one with uniform lights and ornaments and the family room tree is the one that Joe gets to put all the assorted ornaments that he has collected over the years.  That one is a green one.  Then throughout the house are assorted decorations that the 2 of us have collected over the years together.  Joe's favorites however are his Christmas trolls which he has had for eons.  He insists on them coming out every year.  I've posted the photos of  our decorated home on a link on the right hand side of this page, but they can also be accessed by clicking here.

Christmas is Joe's absolutely favorite time of year.  He loves all the decorations and I get used to them after awhile.  If he had his way they would stay up through the entire winter, maybe even into spring.  I have to put my foot down after "old Christmas" and I slowly start putting stuff away.  But for now, we will enjoy the color and the festive atmosphere that the Christmas decor brings.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

CT Scan tomorrow but tonight, Paul Simon

Tomorrow afternoon Joe will have his 3rd CT Scan since he started his post surgical chemo treatments. The last scan showed no growth of the tumor but we won't know the results of this scan until Monday at Joe's oncology appointment at Duke. It will be a long weekend. However, tonight we go to the Paul Simon concert at DPAC. Joe has been looking forward to this for a long time. Not that he hasn't seen him in concert before, but Mr. Simon is one of his "all-time favorites". (He has lots of those). I had hoped to post at least one photo from the concert but Joe's phone takes such crappy photos that it's not worth even trying. We are home now (finally - its 11pm) and Joe really enjoyed the concert. I'm really glad he got to see Paul Simon in concert again.

The rest of the weekend will be decorating the house with Christmas decorations. Joe has finished one tree but still has one to go. I have the rest of the downstairs to work on. We need to get it done so we can get the decoration boxes out of the garage so Joe can get his car back in.

Thanks for all the prayers and good thoughts everyone has been sending our way. You are all much appreciated.

Thanksgiving 2011 Version

As is our tradition, we high tail it out of town for Thanksgiving.  Not that we have anything against family get togethers but we have come to enjoy just making Thanksgiving our own, alone. So for the last 8 or 9 years we have left town during the Holiday week.  We have gone to Vegas a few times, Alexandria (VA), various locations in the mountains, Williamsburg and this year Myrtle Beach.  Last year, since Joe had just had his stint put in the week before, our trip to Tennessee didn't happen so this year we were determined to get back on track, and we did.  Since PGUMC was hosting the inter-faith Thanksgiving service we couldn't leave until Wednesday, but since Myrtle Beach isn't that far away, it worked out fine.  However, just getting out of town almost became an issue.  When we left the house Wednesday morning, we had to make a quick stop by the local pharmacy and on the way from the pharmacy to get onto I-40, a car pulled out and hit me on Hwy 54.  Not a good start.  However, luckily there was just a couple of scrapes on the rubber wheel guards so I just told the non English speaking person to just go on and we got back in my car and were on our way.  From there on it was smooth sailing and we made good time, getting to N. Myrtle Beach soon after lunch time.   From there on we had a great time.  Out to dinner on Wednesday night, our Thanksgiving lunch with turkey and all the trimmings on Thursday, and then a movie Thursday evening.  We got to sleep late every day (the best part), caught another movie on Friday and then took our time returning home on Saturday evening.  Sprinkled in among all the relaxation was a little beach and sounds of the waves and it made for a great Thanksgiving.

Click on Photo to make larger.

Nothing beats a sunset on the beach.

On the way back home we stopped in Hope Mills to see my family and to wish my sister, Phyllis, a Happy Birthday (Saturday was her birthday).  It was a short visit but it was nice to see everyone and get to have a few laughs with all of them.

Tomorrow I'm back at work after a week off, so you can imagine just how much I'm looking forward to that. This Friday afternoon Joe has his next CT Scan at Duke, so we should find out the results at next Monday's doctors appointment before his chemo treatment.  We have our fingers crossed and are saying extra prayers that this report is as good as the last one.

Thank you to everyone for your continued prayers and concern.  We love and thank each and everyone of you for all you have done for us.

Early Day at Duke and Jeff has a Week Off!

Late to bed, early to rise makes for a massive need for coffee.  I napped a lot Sunday afternoon and then last night found it difficult to sleep.  Not sure if one had anything to do with the other but it definitely made for a sluggish morning getting to Joe's 7:30am appointment at Duke Oncology.  But we made it with 10 minutes to spare.  Plenty of time for me to go get my coffee and Joe's large diet lemonade from the food court.   Blood was drawn promptly at 7:30 and now we wait for the call back to the exam room to see Leigh Howard or Dr. Zafar.  I'm thinking Leigh, but regardless I hope we are running on time.

From here we have a trip to King's Sandwich shop (Joes choice) but I'm pulling for the Atrium Cafe at Duke Hospital.  Best chicken strips ever!  Then we plan various trips that could include Costco, Pleasant Grove UMC, Target, DPAC, Honeybaked Ham store, Harris Teeter and a couples of other places that are slipping my mind.  We probably won't make it home until dark at this point.

Been awhile since I've been to chemo with Joe except by FaceTime.  Not that I've missed it mind you but this week Joe won't have much of a chance to be away from me.....ahhhhhh togetherness.

We have the interfaith Thanksgiving service at PGUMC on Tuesday night and then we leave Wednesday morning for 4 days at Myrtle Beach. A nice quiet Thanksgiving filled with catching up with movies (Breaking Dawn, Descendents, Moneyball, etc). But right now it's 8:24 and we are still in waiting room...waiting...hence the name of the room I guess.

Not a big crowd here yet so still hopeful of being on time, although buzzers are going off all around us, just not Joe's.  We did get back to the exam room around 8:45 and got to see both Leigh and Dr. Zafar!   His lab work was within normal ranges or at least what they expect it to be (he's a little anemic) and much to his dismay, he's gained 4 more pounds.  We didn't quite make it up to chemo on time so we had more than an hour wait.  But look how cute Joe looks with all those tubes plugged into him :)

We were out of there by noon, but didn't get home until 3:45pm after running all the errands.  But since it was still daylight, I took the opportunity to rake up more leaves that have fallen from the trees in the front yard since Saturday.  I'm sure we will have to rake a couple of more times before all is said and done.

All in all a very nice day even if 5 hours were spent at the Duke Clinics.  Thank you to everyone for your continued prayers and good thoughts.  If anyone is free on Tuesday evening, please join us at Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church at 7:30pm for the interfaith Thanksgiving service.  Joe and I have so much to be thankful for this year.

Sleep Does a Body Good! (plus Joe Finally Speaks!)

It's been more than a little over a week since the last post, mainly due to lack of anything to really talk about.  Joe's car has been fixed at the 75% smaller fee than the VW dealership quoted. YAY!  Joe also took a couple of days to attend a music conference in Winston-Salem from Sunday afternoon through Tuesday morning.  He got back by lunch time on Tuesday.  This is a conference he has attended since he was a Junior in college but had to miss last year since it was around the same time as we had gotten his cancer diagnosis and we were contemplating his treatment.  He came home quite happy from getting to see a lot of people he has seen on a regular basis over the last 30+ years.  Although I was worried the whole time he was gone, I'm very glad he had the chance to get away.

I spent most of the time he was gone in bed dealing with a cold.  There is however, something to be said about plenty of bed rest and I sure did get a lot of it.  Feeling better the last couple of days.

The rest of the week and weekend should be rather routine except for preparing for a trip away from home next week during Thanksgiving.  It has always been our practice to get away for the holiday usually for a week.  This holiday however we will only be away 4 days since PGUMC is hosting an area community of faith Thanksgiving service on Tuesday night.  We'll leave early on Wednesday for Myrtle Beach and come back on Saturday night.  I'm taking the whole week off next week so there will be plenty of "together" time.

His next Chemo treatment at Duke will be the Monday before Thanksgiving, Nov. 21st.

Thank you for all your continued prayers, thoughts and much needed support.

4:46pm Thursday Update: P.S.  Joe promised that he would write this post and when he hadn't done anything in 2 days, I went ahead and posted something.  He then promised to edit it some and add some info from his trip or something.  Another 24 hours has passed and he STILL hasn't done anything.  Does anyone have any ideas on how I can get him to not be such a procrastinator?

Joe's Late Posting (Posted by Joe):
Though I hated leaving Jeff for 48 hours, I did have a wonderful time at the NC Music Educators Fall Conference in Winston-Salem.  I drove there in my finally fixed 2001 VW Beetle.  It drove as good as new though the ceiling is still trying to come down (Jeff stapled it up a year ago) and duct tape is keeping the holes in the seat at bay and the door panel from coming loose.

At 3:00 I heard the NC High School Honors Chorus give an absolutely wonderful, exciting & musical performance.  Then I met up with my roommates (Jill Boliek & Mary Summerlin) & went to the exhibits to sample some cookie & cheesecake fundraiser items!  I kept seeing teachers that I have known throughout the years and it was good catching up with them.  (That's the best part of conferences like these!).

Monday morning I went to the retired teacher's breakfast & it was good to see some of my colleagues, many of whom I have known for over 30 years (Richard, Diane, Ken, Pam, Treda, Carol, etc.).  Then I decided to go meet Jill and Mary for breakfast #2 at the Embassy Suites (it was free with the room); however, I ended up sitting with Jacqueline & Jocelyn (I still call them the Pharr twins.  We were at UNCG together.) and Marshal Butler (we go back to the early days of the Junior High Section beginnings).  It was good to catch up with the three of them, but especially with Jacqueline once the other two left.  I then headed back to the exhibits to see people I hadn't seen the previous time.  For lunch that day, Jill and I attended the NC American Choral Directors Association luncheon and a wonderful performance by the Chorale from Methodist University in Fayetteville.  Congratulations to Betty-Neill Parsons who received the Lara Hoggard Award!  Betty Neil and I go way back to when I first started teaching at Stedman Jr. High School in Cumberland County.  Later that day, I was very excited to see Susan Williams who taught at Armstrong Junior High. All three of us taught in the Cape Fear HS district in Cumberland County where I taught for 17 years prior to moving to Durham, Susan & I at the two junior high schools and Betty-Neill at Cape Fear HS.  Monday afternoon I attended 3 wonderful high school choral concerts.  Two (Cedar Ridge HS and Panther Creek HS) are from the Triangle.

Monday evening, Jill, Mary, Jeremy and I went to eat at my favorite restaurant:  the Salem Tavern in Old Salem.  It has been a yearly tradition of mine for many years.  My favorites are the pumpkin muffins & the ginger bread with lemon ice cream.  Mmmmmmm.  I'm ready to go back!  After supper, back to the Steven's Center to hear the NC Symphony in concert & what a concert it was!  Rachmaninoff & a Liszt orchestra/piano piece that was absolutely spellbinding.

Tuesday morning breakfast was with the 3 of us & Marshall.  It was so good just to talk about all things music and a little of life thrown in also!  After breakfast, Jill, Mary & I spent way too much time trying to get the hotel to figure out how to split the bill 3 ways.  You would not believe how long that took!!!!!  Then, time to get my suitcase & head to the parking deck to the car.  I always check to make sure my car is clean inside.  I never will forget one teacher telling us how she mistakenly left her car unlocked many years ago and a homeless drunk spent the night in it and threw up all over it.  Some stories you just never forget.

My final Winston-Salem tradition was to go to the Old Salem Bakery where I got Oatmeal/Raisin Cookies for me, Chocolate Chip for Jeff, & Cinnamon Buns for both of us.  (Oh, I also forgot another tradition:  Pumpkin Spice Donuts from Krispy Kreme!!!!!!  We did that Sunday night.)  Guess, I'd better stop.  After all of the hassle Jeff has given me for not writing the post, now I'm getting it for having typed for so long tonight.  It was good to see all of the musicians that I have known throughout the years.  We all have a bond that others will never understand.  I am grateful that I have worked in a state with so many caring and talented music teachers.

Old Salem Winker Bakery

P.S.S. This is Jeff: Remind me never to ask Joe to write on here again. War & Peace was shorter!

Last Week is Just a Memory

As most regular readers of this site know, I am an eternal optimist.  Okay, so maybe I have my extreme pessimistic moments, but generally speaking, I am an optimistic person.  Last week, being not such a good week, I will admit I was less than positive 100% of the time.  Joe would probably say I was less than positive all of the time last week, and he would probably be right. He usually is.  However, last week is just a memory now.  It would appear that most of my overwrought dramatic moments have abated and I feel much more relaxed.   Joe had his chemo appointment yesterday, no doctor – only labs & chemo, and other than the first nurse blowing a vein when trying to get the infusion going, it went fine and he left Duke somewhat unscathed.  Since we were down a car, he had to go it alone, although we did do FaceTime during part of his treatment so I could see him and make sure he was doing ok.  Thank goodness for technology, specifically Apple and the iPad2.

This morning, after the drama with the VW dealership last week and the exorbitant fee that they were saying it would take to fix Joe’s car, he managed to get to Raleigh without the car catching on fire and dropped it off at Autohaus for a second opinion.  Guess what, they can make the necessary repairs for 75% less than what the dealership was charging.  Amazing huh?  That combined with my conversation with Certapro today where I pointed out their errors in the final bill for the painting and repairs of our house (they had charged us $300 more than the estimate) and getting that credit back has made for a rather positive & productive morning.  Now we just have to wait for the repairs on Joe’s car to be completed so we can once again be a 2 car family.  Me having to stay at the office until 6:25pm last night for Joe to come pick me up is not my idea of a good time since I get off work at 5pm.  But I’m not complaining. J

The house looks great!  The exterior is actually yellow again instead of “off white”.  Pressure washing is a good thing.  Even the patio & driveway are white again instead of grey.  The inside where we had painted is perfect.  Exactly the colors and result we were wanting. 

We should have done it a couple of years ago.  I’ve picked out colors for other people for years now, but when it came to what I was going to have to live with, I dragged it out and dragged it out.  Hopefully we will have our wedding video soon and then we plan to have an Open House to celebrate.  Now that the house is looking so nice, it will be even better!

Continued thanks for all the well wishes and prayers.  We love and cherish each and every one of you.

Glad This Week is Drawing To An End

I’m so very glad that this week is almost over.  Now if the fumes in the house from the paint would dissipate,  I would be a great deal happier with a much smaller headache.  Poor Joe has been captive at the house since Thursday of last week.  Just him, Dolly (the cat) and a host of power washers, carpenters, and painters.  The exterior of the house is finished and looks great!  The family room, kitchen, loft and master bath also are all finished and about 95 % back to normal.  We still have to find a few things that Joe moved out of the rooms and doesn’t seem to remember where they were put, but I’m sure we will find them….eventually.  Today, the last room, our master bedroom should be completed.  Hopefully by the time I get home I can start reloading everything back in there.  Having a house painted is stressful, as was evident by our previous post earlier in the week.  However, the drama didn’t just stop with the patio furniture spread out over the newly seeded lawn.   Once they finished in the backyard, they took to putting all their equipment in the front yard even though we have a perfectly good driveway made of concrete that would work much better.  Each night I’ve come home and moved planters, trash cans and other items off the grass and back onto the concrete where they belong.  I’m still now quite sure why the 2 planters that sit at the sidewalk up to the front door had to be moved into the front yard since the closest painting job (the front porch/stoop) is a good 3-4 feet away.  All I can see are $$ signs from where we paid to have the lawn done a month ago.  To add insult to injury, Joe had taken his car into the VW dealership on Tuesday evening for service and they called him yesterday afternoon to let him know the VAST number of repairs that needed to be done and the cost.   Maybe I should capitalize the word COST.  It’s a 10 year old, almost 11 year old, car.  We wouldn’t even get 25% of the cost of repair if we were to try to sell it.  My lunchtime relaxation yesterday was spoiled by that news.  But since we have had issues in the past with the VW dealership here in Durham, Joe decided to call a VW repair shop called Autohaus that is very near PGUMC and get their opinion.  He’ll have to take it in Tuesday morning.  The only real issue with that right now is that the VW mechanic at the dealership said the only real worry with driving the car right now is that it could catch on fire.  Really?  That doesn’t seem so bad, right?  So theoretically, on the way to take the car to Raleigh Tuesday morning, the car could blow up.  That makes me feel much better.

So to summarize, what was to be a 1 day exterior paint job took 3, what was to be a 2 day interior paint job is now in it’s 4^th day, the newly seeded lawn which had turned so green and pretty now has big brown muddy spots where the new grass has been smushed to smithereens,  and the repair of Joe’s car will cost 4 times what the car is worth, if it doesn’t catch on fire first.

Now for the good stuff.  Joe has felt well, although he may have pulled a muscle in his back at some point this week, but he is completely mobile.  Monday’s chemo treatment at Duke will not include a trip to the doctor before, just blood drawn for labs and then off to the Chemo infusion center to wait.  Since we are one car down, either Joe will have to drive himself after dropping me off at work, or I will have to stay with him for the duration.  However, we’ll cross that bridge on Monday morning.  Joe had a good turnout for choir practice on Wednesday, which always lifts his spirits and then had a TGMC performance at First Presbyterian of Durham last night (Thursday).  That meant I went to Bible study alone, but had the chance to talk to and get better acquainted with some folks, (thanks Kelsey & Dave), and opened myself up for good natured jabbing from the group by telling a road rage story of mine.  I may have found a new radio station to soothe my morning commute as a result: 93.9KissFM Check it out!

Tomorrow will be a day of putting the house back in order and then Sunday an extra hour of sleep!  Everybody should enjoy that part.   I hope everyone has a great weekend.  Have fun but be safe.

Continued thanks to everyone for their continued prayers and support.  It is greatly appreciated.  Please also remember Mary & Bob Anderson.  Besides the cancer that Mary is dealing with they have had a death in their immediate family and they can use some extra prayers headed their way.

STRESS! STRESS! STRESS!

Stress is what happens when an emotional control freak has no control. Example: We are having the exterior trim on the house painted and the siding, patio, and driveway power washed. After that we are having the interior painted. Thus far the exterior repairs (there were some areas of rot) and the power washing are complete. The day the repairs were done, I came home to find the entire rear gutters laying in the back yard wher we had just had the yard aerated and over seeded. Delicate new blades of tiny grass coming up and not needing to be squashed. So I fussed at Joe and asked why they didn't put the gutters on the patio, response-- I don't know. Today I come home after the power washing and EVERY PIECE OF WOODEN PATIO FURNITURE AND POTTED PLANT is sitting in the back yard. Can you say Dead New Grass??? The also ruined the doorbell causing an indoor electrical problem. Even the garbage cans that sit on the side concrete pad were sitting in the yard instead of on the concrete. What's up with that?? Fortunately I was home alone after dropping Joe off at TGMC rehearsal when I had my MELTDOWN! However, my question to Joe is "where are you when they are finishing up for the day and why don't you ask them to put the crap back where they found it???"

It wasn't pretty. I was loud, I was not a nice person. I can only pray that when I come home tomorrow after they start painting inside that I don't have a repeat performance. Joe won't have anywhere to hide to be out of the line of fire. Stress can be UGLY.

This is Joe's non-chemo week so he has felt pretty good so far since he hasn't had to go to Duke. However he has said he has felt like he was being held hostage here at the house since he has been here either waiting for or while the workmen were here. But apparently he never looks to see what they are doing ( I had to get that one dig in).

Thank you to everyone for their continued prayers. We are both very appreciative.