Today started out rough but got a little better as the day went on. Joe went to see the ENT doctor today and he said that the lymph node on the side of his neck is still about the size of a pod and not sure about in the tonsil and tongue yet. They are going to do a CT scan on the 16th of November and several other tests on the 27th of November. They will make a decision then when they will do surgery. They are testing his hearing right now because the ringing is getting worse in both ears and doing some lab work because they think his thyroid may be low because he is so cold all the time. We will find out those results tomorrow. They said to keep taking robitussin at night and during the day to keep the phloem to a minimum. His mouth is still swollen and blistered inside so they did not put the scope in to look down his throat which is good because it would have been very painful. I will let you know tomorrow what the lab work says.

Love,
Crystal

Sorry about not posting this week. I have been working extra hours every day and haven't gotten home until about 8 or 9 every night. Joe is still about the same, but is moving around more since I had the conversation with him last Sunday about his muscles. He is still vomiting usually once a day and he is able to push about 4 bottles of boost threw his tube each day. Sleeping at night is getting better with the Robitussin, but he can only take it before we go to bed and is last about 4 to 6 hours. Which is good because we both can get some rest during the night. Joe will see the ENT doctor on Monday and the Radiologist called yesterday and he is scheduled for a CT scan on November 13th. He is talking a little more but it still hurts if he talks to much during the day. He is more active by piddling with the laundry, dishes and picking up after himself anything that will stimulate his muscles and the spasms have decreased greatly.

He is doing great on the road to recovery!

God Bless,

Crystal

Well today was a little better than yesterday, but still no improvement yet. He is still very sore, tired and nauseated all the time. I wanted him to get up and move around today because I think if you keep moving it tells your body what it should be doing. We are going to try some Robitussin tonight and see if that helps with the coughing. He still have lots of gagging at night and has been running a fever since last week. He was so washed out today that he could not go to church this morning. We did go for a drive tonight though and it was nice. He needs fresh air but that's my opinion. I will try to do better and update the blog everyday this week.

Love,
Crystal

Hello everyone! I cant wait until I can say that Joe is improving, but not yet. He has been vomiting quite a bit the last couple of days. His neck is very tender where the skin is blistering and peeling off and his is still not sleeping very well. I thought I was going to have to take him to the emergency room the other night because he could not hold anything down. Also the nausea and pain medicine would keep coming up when he would vomit so that was a problem too. He is getting so thin and looks different. He looked just like his dad the other day, I had to look twice! He said that he looked like a sick old man who's clothes were just hanging on him. He is still sweet though and he is still my Joe.

Love,
Crystal

The last couple of days have been rough for Joe. He is still not sleeping well and he can still only eat about 3 Boost a day. The doctor told him today that he need to break his boost into 2 servings because they come up into his throat and burn him. His last treatment is tomorrow and we are so glad. Hopefully in the middle of November he can have his Port removed and by the middle of December have his feeding tube removed. Even if the Cancer is not gone they will not be able to do anymore Chemo or Radiation for a while because he has had the maximum allowed. It has rained the last couple of days and he is so cold. Last night he had the space heater on in the bedroom and it felt like I was on the Beach in the middle of summer! Well his sleeping at night is still the same where he will stop breathing about every 20 to 30 minutes. This should start getting better next week.

God Bless,
Crystal

Today was a good day. Joe was feeling good enough to go with us to Brookwood Mall and stop at Wal-Mart for about 45 minutes while Josie spent her Gift Certificates. He is trying to increase the amount of Boost he puts into his feeding tube a day. He is up to 3 per day but the doctors want him to have a minimum of 6 per day. He is still in a lot of pain. Even breathing air into his mouth hurts when it hits the burnt parts. He is just trucking along.

Love,
Crystal

Joe said his mouth feels like a piece of raw hamburger. The more he talks the greater the pain. The Chemo is hitting him pretty hard today and last night he forgot to take his sleeping pill. I don't think he slept at all. He says he just feels really bad today. 5 treatments to go and he is really looking forward to being done!!! When he tried to brush his teeth this morning the toothpaste burned him good. This afternoon he was bent over the trash can really sick and it was pain like he has never felt before!

He is hanging in there!

Love,
Crystal

Joe received his last Chemo treatment today. He was at the hospital from about 8:00am to about 4:45. That is a very long day when you don't feel well. His throat is still hurting him and the doctor said to also take Robitussin at night before bed to help with the phloem. It did not really help last night but we will continue to try. They increased his pain medicine again and also gave him a different kind of mouth pain medicine. It is a liquid that he takes every 4 hours that is suppose to numb the pain in his mouth and throat. It does help a little but when your tongue fells like a folded dish rag and your mouth will only open about 2 inches there's not much they can do. They want him to have at least 6 boost a day. So we will need lots of that if anyone goes by the store. (Vanilla only though the other burns) They still want him to drink water by mouth so his muscles don't freeze up. He still has fever and hot flashes. He says that he is hot and his hands and feet are like ice????

So he only has 7 radiation treatments left and then the road to recovery will begin. Then they will do a biopsy in the middle of November and the doctors told him today that he should be able to come off the pain medicine around Christmas. (Mid to latter part of December)

that's all I have for now....Good night.

Love,
Crystal

It has been a very rough day for Joe. We have officially had to begin using the feeding tube today. When I got home from work today he had not eaten anything and only drank about a cup of water all day. His throat hurts so bad that he doesn't even want to swallow. I put 40cc of Boost in his tube and flushed it before and after with 20cc of water. It hurts him to talk now and to even open his mouth. Sunday he was able to swallow water and some food and now today he can't swallow anything. All the other things I wrote about yesterday and still happening today.

My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.

Psalm 119:50 NIV

God Bless,

Crystal

The computer is up and running again. Joe still has 9 more radiation treatments and 1 more Chemo treatment. He will be done with all the treatments by the end of October. Then after that it will take probably about 1 to 2 months to heal up. About the 2nd or 3rd week of November we will find out how well the treatments have affected the tumors. He has been running a high fever and the doctors said to keep an eye on it. It was up to 102.2 at one point and has been up and down since then. His tongue is hurting him a lot now because not only does it have blisters but it is also extremely burnt. All the way around the outside of his neck is very dry with tiny little blisters on it. His sleeping is getting worse because of all the phlegm that builds up. About every 20 to 30 minutes all night long the phlegm builds up so much that Joe stops breathing for what seems to be an eternity until he begins gagging to bring it up. He has to spit all that nasty stuff out and for everyone that knows I have a spit phobia, this makes the hair on my arms stand up when he does it. He is so Loud at night now when he sleeps the kids can hear him from their bedrooms with the doors shut. Lets all pray that after the 19th of October that the healing process will be very quick for him!

Love,
Crystal

Joe had a busy day today. The pain is increasing in his throat and mouth. He says that his tongue hurts so much because it's so swollen and he keeps biting it. The number of blisters in his mouth keep increasing and the pain medicine only takes the edge off. He is going to see if they can increase the strength of the pain medicine tomorrow. He felt pretty sick about an hour ago and had to lay down. The nausea medicine has been working well but you never now what will trigger the nausea. They will weight him again tomorrow and hopefully he has not lost any more weight. 13 pounds last week was enough!

God Bless,
Crystal

Sorry again for the delay, still having computer problems. Joe had a huge weight loss report at the doctor this week. He lost 13 pounds and they were not very happy. He had stopped taking his nausea medicine and everything was making him sick. He has started taking it again though. His legs had fallen asleep on him this morning and he fell getting out of bed, I helped him up and he fell down again. He said " things like this just don't happen to me". I think he was embarrassed and got back into bed for a little while. He is more irritable now also. He will want to go somewhere to get out of the house and then rush us to get back home???? OK. I know that it is the medicine, but at the same time it is still frustrating. The doctors say that the tumor in the lymph node is the size of a Beebe, which is great news. They will not know the status of the other tumor until a month after Joe finishes his treatments. Then they will be able to asses it and make a recommendation as to what the next steps will be. Thats all I have for now.

Love,
Crystal