It was a great service at Church Sunday and the congregation was able to lay hands on Joe and pray. After being there for both services Joe was very tired and slept the rest of the day. After his treatment this morning he went strait to bed and got up about 3:30 then slept on the couch. He woke up about 10:30 thinking we would go to bed but I still had to update the blog and do some laundry so he is still awake waiting on me. I will keep this short so I can take my sweet husband to get a shower and go to bed.

Love,
Crystal

Lord, help me to let Your love and joy form a rainbow through my tears. Amen

by: R. Allen

It has been a very busy week. Our computer has been down, so I could not update the blog. Joe had his second Chemo treatment this past Wednesday and did well. He has lost a little more weight, but is still good. His throat is increasingly sore so he will remain on his pain medicine for the duration of his treatments. Since his hair started falling out he went and had a "High & Tight" military haircut done. He has continued to eat by mouth to keep his throat moving. His appetite has been decreasing and he has been trying to eat less portions more times a day. Food has no taste so that makes it even harder to eat.

Joe has energy in the mornings and it dwindles by the afternoon. His spirits are still really good. He has a positive attitude about everything that is happening.

God Bless,
Crystal

The weekend showed several changes in Joe. His throat is more irritated, sore and burnt. Joe says that it is a huge effort just to swallow his spit or some water(very painful). He has started taking his pain medication regularly again to regulate the pain. He has begun loosing small amounts of hair. The doctor today tried to put a microscope down his nose to look around and Joe was in so much discomfort and pain that they decided to stop. I have no idea what possessed they to try? He says that he can really feel the effects of the radiation now and he has a big dose of Chemo on Wednesday.

He still has a smile on his face though!!!

Love,
Crystal

Hope everyone has had a great week. 14 of 40 treatments done already and Joe is doing well. He has to drink water all the time, he carries a water bottle with him because his mouth is so dry now. When the radiation is being administered Joe can smell the tissue burning. The scar tissue is increasing in his throat and his saliva is getting ropy. His voice is changing again and when he uses it a lot it gets deeper. The nurse said today that he will probably go to a whisper before the end of his treatments. That will be a first, Joe not being able to talk! So lets break it down....Joe home alone a bunch, not able to talk, not able to eat........ I can't imagine that.

Have a great weekend,
Crystal

Joe had a good day today. He freaked me out a little while ago though because he thought he had something caught in his throat but come to find out it was nothing. I didn't know weather to do the heimlick, whack him on the back, or dial 911. Since his saliva is getting thicker he thinks something large is getting caught in his throat but its not. We hope that doesn't happen again. His neck is getting redder and his throat sorer and the doctors are saying he is doing great. He said that he doesn't want to shave his beard because it is a nice camouflage for the redness on his neck.

He told me tonight that my food did not look pretty and I busted out laughing and said that's right all you have is if the food is pretty or not. It was weird hearing Joe say that my food wasn't pretty! I'm glad he can still laugh because it was really funny.

God Bless,
Crystal

Things are different everyday for Joe. Today he started noticing that his saliva is getting thicker. He said that the soreness is increasing in his mouth, neck, and jaw. He did his exercises today and I picked up some hard candy for him to suck on during the day to keep his saliva moving. At the rate the pain is increasing he may have to begin using his feeding tube by the end of the week.

Jesus said, " I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."
John 14: 13-14

Love,
Crystal

Joe saw the swallowing therapist today and she gave him some exercises to do everyday. She said it was very important to keep the sides of his throat from fusing together from the scar tissue that is forming in there.

My Aunt emailed us that if he brushes his teeth just before he eats that it should improve the taste of food. We will have to try that tomorrow and see if it works.

He has tried to stay up all day and take a sleeping pill before bed to see if it will help him sleep better. Last night he was up until about 1:30am or so and then came to bed but was up almost every half hour or so. It is usually for something different each time and sometimes he doesn't even know that he is talking to me asking questions. I know that God will not give us more than we can handle and he know what that is better than we do.

Off to bed we go, till tomorrow :)

God Bless,
Crystal

We are 1 1/2 weeks into treatments now and 6 1/2 weeks to go. Sleeping at night has really proven to be a great challenge for Joe. About 3 AM last night he had severe pains in his stomach and finally got them to go away about 3 hours later. He said he thought the feeding tube was going to blow right out of his side. He has been sleeping now since we got home from church at about 1:00. He is getting weaker and his muscle mass is decreasing, but he still has good spirits. If you didn't know how active Joe was before this then you wouldn't really see that much is going on with him right now.

His entire mouth feels burnt and his gums are increasingly more sensitive each day. His food has no taste and he always ask me if what we are eating taste good. Well of course I say yes if I cooked it! HAHA. I'm sure it wont be much longer and he will have to begin using his feeding tube. Joe has and appointment with the swallowing therapist tomorrow at UAB after they do a barium swallow test. He will continue to receive Radiation treatment each day this week. Please keep the prayers flowing.

Love,
Crystal

Hey Everyone,

Joe had another good day! He still can't get over his food tasting like nothing. The doctors say that he feels better than most at this point in the treatment. He looks better also I think some of his color came back. I am just going to keep it short tonight and will post again tomorrow.

Love,
Crystal

Joe had a great report from the Doctor today. They said the Lymph node tumor has shrunk and that it looks good. He still has another 2 days Radiation this week and then off for the weekend. Then they resume again on Monday. He said that everything tastes the same now just the texture is different. Matt made him a grilled cheese and chips for dinner and he said they both tasted the same. I cant imagine eating a grilled cheese and have it taste like a bland rice cake. His throat is getting a little sore and he is getting some blisters around his teeth but they don't hurt yet.

I want to also assure everyone that we have a great system in place for the needs we have. Mindy Barber organizes people for our household groceries, cleaning supplies, needs like that, Stephanie Barnes handles scheduling transportation for Joe and household projects we have, Vicki Fancher bring our kids home from school everyday, Bryan & Ashley Wilkes and Gary & Rebecca Scoggins is collecting financial help (this being the most immediate need we have right now paying day to day bills, doctor copays and prescriptions), Rebecca Scoggins handles arranging meals on Mondays, Wednesdays, & Fridays, and Lynn Faulk helps me with household chores and misc items with the kids. There are many more that help and I am sorry that I have not listed everybody. If there is an area that you would like to help in please let one of the above people know or let me know. We know this is going to be a long road and we have just started. Joe still has 7 more weeks of treatments before the recovery period even begins. We really do appreciate everything that is being done and hope that people continue to help during this time of need.

Thanks for all the PRAYERS!
Love,
Crystal

Well today was a busy day back to work. Joe had a good doctors visit after his radiation treatment this morning. GREAT NEWS!They said that the Left Tonsil Biopsy was negative for cancer which means they do not believe the cancer has spread to his left side.

He seems down about the way he looks. I can't tell a big difference but he can. He has lost more weight and is down to 191. He is back to his initial weight before he started eating like crazy to put on as much as he could before the treatments began. His eyes are a little dark, he says they look sunk in and his voice is different. I told him I didn't care what he looked like on the outside because I married him for what's on the inside. He bruises easily now even if he just bumps into something. The radiation is affecting the hearing in his right ear which they say should be short term. The muscle under his tongue is getting stiff and is making his jaw sore. Towards the end of this week he will not have much of an immune system and the doctor said he will be very vulnerable to infections and colds. We just have to be sure to wash our hands a lot and use hand sanitizer often. The kids and I use it frequently here at the house. He is still sleeping quite a bit and I took my lunch hour at 1:30 to come home and be sure he ate something. Most of the time on the phone he will tell me he is not hungry or that he will get something which he does not do. The doctor doesn't want him to lose much more weight or we will have to begin using the feeding tube. We shall see. Till tomorrow.....

God Bless,
Crystal

Happy Labor Day! They have finally fixed our phone line and we are up and running again.

The last two day we have noticed some changes. His skin color is a little different and his voice has changed a little bit. He says that he is feeling odd.?! He cant describe exactly how he feels just that its odd. He has slept quite a bit the last 2 days which they said would be normal because fatigue was a side effect of the Chemo. He said that he cant hear anything out of his right ear and this morning he was sitting on the front porch and could not stop shaking so he came back inside and laid down. I am going to try to get him to eat something even though he doesn't feel hungry.

Hope everyone is have a great holiday. Back to work tomorrow

Love,
Crystal

Sorry for not updating this last night. There is something wrong with our phone line and Bellsouth said the repairs will be made by Monday afternoon. We can receive calls but not make calls so I could not log on the internet. I had to wait until I got to work today to do this update. So anyway Joe went to UAB yesterday to receive radiation and It went well. He felt fine all day until about 6pm and then began to get tired. At one point he said he was going to the bathroom and that he would be right back down to eat. After about 10 minutes I went upstairs to check on him because he had not come back downstairs and he was in the bed. The radiation is going to heighten the Chemo and the biggest side effects are nausea and fatigue. He was up and down quite a bit last night but felt good this morning. He had to have another radiation treatment today at 8:30 then had to have fluids put in at the Chemo office. This is just to be sure that he doesn't get dehydrated. Thanks for everything!

God Bless,
Crystal