Joe Lent

2009-02-18T20:40:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

This morning about 10:00am Joe won victory over his cancer and is dancing in the streets of gold in Heaven right now. Joe is an amazing man, father, and friend to so many and will be missed greatly.

Arrangements for Joe Lent are as follows:
Friday, February 20
Visitation from 5-8pm

Saturday, February 21
Funeral Service at 2pm

Both at Mountaintop Community Church, 225 Centerview Drive Birmingham, AL 35216

Instead of flowers the family has requested that donations be made to the Family Life Center at Mountaintop Community Church.

God Bless!

2009-02-10T09:38:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends and Family,

Over the last two weeks, Joe and Crystal have had some very precious and adventurous times together. One night Joe awoke and was planning an adventure for the day. His request landed Joe, Uncle Lee and Crystal in Folley, Alabama at Lambert's restaurant. (A four hour trip each way.) It was a long trip but it was a typical Joe excursion with Crystal right there making his wish come true. And then, God allowed Joe to travel to Texas with Crystal this past weekend to visit Matt. Matt was given an academic award at MMA and asked his parents to be there. Crystal and Joe flew and spent the weekend with Matt. The visit was challenging but they were each given precious moments during their time together. God was in the details by providing several compassionate people along the way.

As far as Joe's physical condition, last week he began to develop some secondary infections/complications. An infection from one tumor is entering his blood stream and is causing his system to become septic. Hospice prescribed a powerful oral antibiotic; however, Joe has only been able to keep down a small dose. His liver is failing and now he is vomiting quite regularly. Yesterday, hospice also diagnosed a urinary tract infection. These infections have triggered a fever. It's all very complicated and interconnected.

So, where do we go from here? Prayer! Please continue to lift up Joe, Crystal, Josie and Matt. Each one has his or her own needs but God knows them all and is able to meet each one specifically. Let's intercede on their behalf!

The Lord's presence is evident in this home. Joe and Crystal are sound followers of Christ, and knowing that brings hope and peace. They truly trust the Lord with their future.

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.
Blessings to you all!

2009-01-25T14:36:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends and Family,

It's Sunday, January 25, and Crystal has requested an update to Joe's blog. She is now home full-time caring for Joe. Hospice is assisting but Joe definitely prefers his precious wife. In the last 3 weeks, the cancer has progressed significantly and his body is struggling. Joe has lost over 20 pounds in 2 weeks. Eating and drinking are very difficult for two reasons; one, the roof of his mouth is now open because of the tumor in his face so liquids and solids escape through his nose and secondly, food and liquids enter his lungs instead of his stomach so he chokes often, with this choking comes the risk of pneumonia. Hospice has made suggestions about how to remedy these issues including thickening liquids, trying straws, placing small amounts on spoons, using sip cups, etc. but nothing seems to help.

Recently, Hospice adjusted Joe's medications and added a steroid. This was done to see if his agitation, confusion, slurred speech, and poor balance were coming from swelling in his brain. The answer was yes. Some who visited were a bit confused by his temporary improvements. He had two days of increased activity, appetite, peacefulness, clear speaking, a sense of humor but also the realization that he had no memory of the previous 2 weeks. He wept with Crystal and was able to have a heart-to-heart chat with her. He told her the Lord is calling him home, and he asked Crystal if she was going to be able to let him go? It was very difficult for her to answer yet she continues to do what is best for him above all else. At this time, he also requested no more steroids. The steroids would only temporarily alleviate his symptoms and have negative effects on other parts of his body. He assures Crystal he is ready to be with his Heavenly Father and does not want to prolong this at all. That night Joe prayed and thanked the Lord for all his caring family and friends. He knows where he's going; he wants to be sure we'll be joining him there, also.

The steroids have cleared his body now and he is sleeping most of the time. When awake, he seems confused and far away in thought. His speech is hard to understand. He looks and asks for Crystal with each waking. Her presence definitely comforts him.

Please continue to pray for Joe and his family. Revisit his life verse, Revelation 2:10. Jesus is our only source of hope now and always.

2008-09-25T18:45:00.000-07:00

September 25, 2008

Hey Everyone,

Joe went to the doctor on Monday which took most of the day. I think it takes me a couple of days to process the information they give because it is just so much. I am a person that has to process or put things down to visualize what the are saying. Then I have to research the information so I can attempt to be on the same page.

With that being said, Joe had a CT scan on his body and another on his head. The body (liver, kidneys and lungs) are getting worse. This is where I have to see a diagram to understand.

I will start with his liver: the widest point of his liver is about 20cm and tallest point is 17.5cm. The tumors that were measured (only the 2 largest) were 10.2cm x 10.8cm and the other was 8.4cm x8.2cm. Joe has been scanned 3 times this year and each time the tumors have doubled in size so if the pattern continues then at the end of December his tumors will be larger than his actual liver!

Kidney's: same thing here - if they double again the tumors will outgrow the kidney's.

Lungs: we did not even talk about his lungs - not sure why but with all the other information it did not even cross my mind.

Brain: More swelling around one of the brain tumors in the area that controls his balance, coordination, dexterity, etc...

Face tumor: Joe will go in on Monday to see the ENT doctor and also see an Anesthesiologist to have a biopsy done on the tumor coming through the roof of his mouth. The doctor did verify that's what it was for sure the tumor coming through. That tumor is massive in size when you look at the scans. It is hard to believe that tumor is so large in his face. - I don't know if they are planning the biopsy on Tuesday or Wednesday we are still waiting on a call.

Joe is still determined to help others and this Saturday he will ride his bicycle to raise money for MS (Multiple Sclerosis) in Mobile with a couple of friends. The ride is 150 miles in 2 day - I'm not sure how he is going to feel on Monday but I cannot tell him "No". He keeps his mind on the Lord to see him through all of this and I stand with him. That's not to say I'm not scared when he rides his bike but I am learning to handle it better.

The Lord is blessing us through all of this and we love all of you.

God Bless,
Crystal

2008-09-20T10:08:00.000-07:00

September 20, 2008

Hey Everyone,

Please forgive me that I have not kept you up to date on Joe. Things have been very busy and Matt is off to school in Texas now and we miss him very much. We pray the Lord keeps him safe and under his wing while he is away from us.

Sometimes it is hard to determine how Joe is doing day to day because most days he looks great. The doctors have given us bad news after bad news. I get very nervous when we have to see the doctor because of what they are going to tell us next. This is the latest information I have:

The tumor in Joe's face that they did radiation on the end of May has grown significantly. The ENT doctor called Friday afternoon and wants Joe to come in Monday the 22nd for a CT scan of his face including sinus and eye cavities so they can see where the tumor has gone. It was the size of my fist about 3 weeks ago and is still growing. Joe has a hole in the roof of his mouth were the tumor looks like it is coming through. It is just taking over in his face. It is causing him problems with his eating, jaw (talking) and headaches. The ENT wants Joe to also come in on Monday the 29th to get Pre-Admission testing. Not sure what they are going to do but that sounds like surgery to me. I will try to find out Monday what they are going to do.

The next thing is a brain tumor they did Gamma Knife on in May has started growing again and also has some swelling around it. They have placed Joe back on Steroids to minimize the swelling and try to control the swelling from the tumors in his body which have become worse.

His belly has swollen quite a bit in the last 2 weeks and I hope the doctor gives us some in site on that Monday. I read that it is caused from tumors in the liver but I don't have confirmation of that. Nights are long as he cannot sleep very well. He keeps me up most of the night having conversations or thinking it is daytime. He woke me up the other night asking me why I was out in the driveway doing u-turns?? I was not outside doing u-turns but he was convinced that I was and wanted to have a conversation about it. :-) It was about 2:00 in the morning.

There are many other little goofy things but I have listed the major ones we know of right now. I will know more once we see the 2 doctors on Monday and have both scans done.

His mood/spirit is great as anyone knows that have talked to him. He says the doctors are promising him paradise and they can't deliver! He also says that he is past his expiration date. His love of the Lord is contagious and it just draws you to him. He is so awesome and has such a peace beyond understanding. Joe was telling me about some pain he was having and I told him it was caused by the cancer and he looked at me like Who has cancer? He made me think I was crazy to say that. That's okay though because we deal with it differently.

We love you all and thank you for keeping up with Joe. I apologize again for not keeping this blog up to date like I should be.

Love and God Bless,

Crystal

2008-06-01T17:51:00.000-07:00

June 1, 2008

Hey Everyone,

The radiologist was able to treat 3 of the brain tumors with Gamma Knife. Joe is having a lot of pain right now and is back on pain medicine for a while. The next couple of weeks should show how well the Gamma Knife and radiation went. It will take that long for the swelling to go down in Joe's face (if the radiation worked). He cannot open his mouth very wide making if difficult to eat and he says everything taste like cardboard.

I will keep you updated...

God Bless,
Crystal

2008-05-27T18:59:00.001-07:00

May 27, 2008

Hey Everyone,

Joe is having Gamma Knife again in the morning. The nurse said today that he is scheduled to have it done on 2 or 3 of the tumors depending on position.

The radiation on his face tumor is almost done. If he can have his last treatment done tomorrow after the Gamma Knife then he will not have to get radiation on Friday morning. They have him scheduled on June 9th for a body MRI. It will show how fast the other tumors are growing in his body. They will also do another brain scan in one month to see how the brain tumors have responded.

I will place another update after Gamma is done tomorrow.

Love,
Crystal

2008-05-15T17:45:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

Joe had his one month follow-up with the neurologist today and also the first of 10 radiation treatments he will receive for the tumor in his face.

More disappointing news came our way today when the neurologist told us that Joe now has 3 additional brain tumors. WOW! So now he has a total of 4 active tumors in his brain, 1 in his face, multiple in his lungs and liver. They are going to take his case before the tumor board in the morning and then let us know what action they want to take. The doctor was leaning toward whole brain radiation since there are so many tumors.

Joe of course had to make a joke about the news today. As we went to the front desk to check out I began to cry. Joe pushed my hair back and said, "It's okay we only have to pay $35 dollars". The lady behind the desk began to laugh thinking I was upset about the bill. He is so crazy.

I am asking God to help us to accept the painful things in our life and concentrate on His loving and healing presence.

God Bless,
Crystal

2008-05-11T19:17:00.001-07:00

May 11, 2008

Hey Everyone,

Happy Mother Day! I had a great day with my family. We went to church, lunch and dinner. Joe was very tired tonight and went to bed early. He has been taking a couple of naps a day which is increasing the number of hours he sleeps each day.

They doctors visit on Thursday told us that the tumor in his head is a little bigger than a golf ball. It is pressing on his jaw muscles and nerves in his face. It is inoperable and they hope to shrink it with radiation but they said several times that this procedure in no way will prolong his life only try to reduce some on his pain and discomfort. They made his mask and began the planning of his treatments during that visit. His first radiation treatment will be on Thursday May 15th and the final one will be May 28th. They will not do a scan after the 10 treatments??they will only see if his symptoms are better. (headache, sore jaw, numbness on right ride, etc).

Joe will see the neurologist on Thursday May 15th to do a follow-up MRI on his brain to see what the status is on the brain tumor they just performed Gamma Knife on April 15th.

I have to say after leaving the doctors office on Thursday afternoon it seemed like the devil tried to pull the life from us. It was very depressing and we were in the dumps but you know we are only human. We know it is how you react when you are down like that (blessing or curse) that is important. We came home and discussed what had happened and went to the Lord. In a couple of hours we were revived spiritually because we chose blessing. We refuse to let the devil take hold of us in any way. It is a hard battle to fight but we are standing our ground the best we can. Please continue to pray for strength. We will continue to wear our Jesus Glasses and be in the world not of the world!

Love to all and God Bless,
Crystal

2008-05-06T10:23:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

Happy Mothers Day to all the mom's this weekend. I wanted to give an update to you for the upcoming events with Joe. Spirits are high and God is GOOD.

Joe went to the doctor (Radiologist) today. She had spoke to Joe's Neurologist about his constant headache. He now has numbness in the side of his face, arm, hand, pains in his chest and some swelling in his ankles. The doctor said the tumor in Joe's face (if you put your finger between your eye and ear that is where it is) is getting larger causing him several problems and his liver function is low causing other problems, etc.

Right now the are going to do 10 radiation treatments between now and the end of the month. It will take about a week to set everything up and he will have a special CT scan this Thursday to create a mask for radiation. The process takes about 4 to 5 hours because of the scans and molding the mask after the scans are read. Then they re-scan him for the measurements. The mask will be like the last one he had that will fasten him to the bed during the radiation.

They say the radiation will damage his upper right salivary gland, cause bone pain in his mouth, mouth tissue soreness so he probably will not feel like eating much, fatigue, headache, and general pain. I don't know how much this will shrink the tumor but we are going to give it a shot. After 10 treatments they will assess it.

I will keep you posted on his progress.

God Bless,
Crystal

2008-04-24T20:37:00.000-07:00

April 24, 2008

Wow, It has been a month since I have updated everyone. It only seems like a week. Joe had his birthday yesterday and even though we had to visit the attorney's office and the doctors office it was a great day. Peggy and Stephanie from church made cakes and served cake & ice cream at our house after church was over. I don't know exactly how many people came over but it must have been at least 50. It just filled our hearts to see all our bothers and sisters at our house in fellowship with each other.

On April 1st the doctors found another brain tumor on the left/bottom side of Joe's brain stem. They did Gamma Knife radiation on April 15th to radiate the tumor. We will not know the result of that until May 15th. At the doctors office yesterday the only did a x-ray so we were not sure why they did that because they cannot read anything off of it.

He is still in good spirits and says, "If I was any better, I'd be twins!"

Love & God Bless,
Crystal

2008-03-23T21:38:00.000-07:00

March 23, 2008

Happy Easter Everyone,

We got back from our trip to Hawaii last night. Thanks to everyone who "anonymously" put this trip together. We had so much fun which was greatly needed and appreciated by all of us. It was nice to escape reality for 9 days and just enjoy each other and have fun. We stayed on Molokai but went to Maui for one day. Molokai is very laid back and no one gets in a hurry. We stayed in the only Hotel on the island which only had 10 guest + us. The island only had 1 taxi and the taxi driver gave us a tour of the small town. There was no shopping, no attractions, only swimming, snorkeling, shell searching, strolling on foot, sunbathing, and things along that line. We met a nice family of 4 there and their kids we the same age as ours. We spent a day with them - they picked us up and we had lunch at their house then went boogie boarding, snorkeling, shell searching and learned about the island. We attended a Luau and it was awesome! Lots of fun.

We are back home now and that means back to reality. Joe has made the decision not to have the additional chemo treatments that I told you about on March 10th. Joe said having the chemo this time just did not feel right and he wants to have a good quality of life for whatever time is left. Only God knows when Joe's time will end and I wish it was never, but I also understand that it is in God's time - not ours. We are not giving up because we still have hope but it does hurt. Please keep our family in your prayers.

God Bless,
Crystal

2008-03-10T19:27:00.000-07:00

March 10, 2008

Hey Everyone,

The race yesterday was awesome! We had somewhere between 350-375 people registered plus all of our smile/cheering squads. It was so much fun to be with all of our friends and be part of something bigger than us. Joe had fun talking, greeting, and firing the gun. Stephanie Barnes really did a great job organizing the race and volunteers. "Volunteers" - thank you because without you this event would not have been possible. The 5k had ages ranging from a couple of months (being pushed in strollers) to a young 80 year old dear friend. If you have ever run on this course this is a big deal! People were pushing their kids in strollers and I don't know how they got them up those steep hills. Amazing! Thanks to everyone that was able to be a part even if you could not attend. Praise GOD and keep passing on the blessing each day.

Now to the news for today. Joe went to the doctor and it was not the news we were looking for or expected. The chemo has not helped the cancer at all. In fact is has grown larger (all the tumors are twice the size now) and they told us that the chemo regiment that Joe took was the most effective for the cancer he has. They want him to consider doing a "Plan B" with 3 different chemo drugs and putting in a port. We are going to take some time to pray about it. The doctor has already scheduled the appointment for March 25th. Joe has a scan on his brain April 1st so we are not sure if there has been any additional growth there yet. Please keep praying for a miracle!

Spirits are still high here and will continue to be because this is the day the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it!

God Bless,
Crystal

ps. If anyone has picture from the race I would love to have some. I had my camera but I was working the registration table. my email is crystallent@peoplepc.com

2008-03-06T23:38:00.000-08:00

March 6, 2008

Hey everyone,

The race is 2 days away and we are very excited.

Here is a link to the registration form for "Passing on the Blessings"" http://www.40dayblog.com/5k-run/5k-run.pdfThe forms are also located at Bob's Bikes, Trak Shak, and Mountaintop Community Church. You can pick one up, print one from the link, or pick one up at the race. They will have registration and packet pick-up open at 12:30.

The 5K/1mile fun Run/Walk will be on Sunday, March 9th. The 5K will begin promptly at 2:00 @Veteran's Park (in front of Spain Park High School).

God has put so many things in place for this race that it is a blessing to be part of it. There will be cheer squads along the course to keep us motivated to finish the race (even though it is not a long race). Just like everyday experiences we need faith to stay strong to be able to finish the races we enter. When we have faith in God he is our cheer squad that keeps us strong and carries us over the finish line - every time!

Joe is still not feeling very well but he is strong. He enjoyed spending time tonight with friends just talking. Joe is a true blessing to me an many others!

God Bless,
Crystal

2008-02-26T19:53:00.000-08:00

February 26, 2008

Hey Everyone,

Joe had his third and final chemo treatment today. He sat up in the chair and let me take a picture of him to put on the blog. He has not been feeling very well this past week. The last report that I gave was on 2/21 and he had felt better for a couple of days. He has been sleeping more which is normal - but in asking the doctor the cancer would also make him sleep more. She set up an appointment for a CT scan on March 10th (the day after the "Passing on the Blessing" run) to see if the chemo has had any affect on the cancer. Joe is having a skin reaction to one of the chemo drugs they are giving him right now but he is at his limit on that drug anyway (along with the other chemo drug the are giving him) so they will have to change the drugs if they proceed with any further treatments.

He is still getting confused and forgetting things, he has lost more of his hearing, the ringing in his ears is awful, he has sores in his mouth that make it uncomfortable to eat, etc. With that being said the doctor hopes with all the side effects Joe is experiencing the chemo is working or is it really beneficial to put him through this. He is sleeping the majority of the day now so we need to PRAY-PRAY-PRAY-the chemo is doing what is suppose to do.

If you have not heard about the event "Passing on the Blessings" in honor of Joe - here is the information:Here is a link to the registration form (thanks Paul!) http://www.40dayblog.com/5k-run/5k-run.pdfThe forms are also located at Bob's Bikes, Trak Shak, Mountaintop Community Church, and Kids Closet. The 5K/1mile fun Run/Walk will be on Sunday, March 9th at 2:00 @Veteran's Park (in front of Spain Park High School).

Dr. Bill Elder interviewed him for the service this past Sunday. If you did not get a chance to see it you can view the service March 3rd - March 8th at http://www.mountaintopchurch.com/ - click the top right corner to be able to view on the Internet.

God Bless,

Crystal

"We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength" Philippians 4:13

2008-02-21T19:29:00.000-08:00

February 21, 2008

Hey Everyone,

Just a quick update on Joe - He is finally feeling better from the last treatment. He still takes the increased medicine but the nausea has went away for now. He will have his last treatment for chemo on Tuesday 2/26. He still has a few hairs in his mustache but they are getting really thin. He did a tape today for church - Bill interviewed him for the service this Sunday. If your not in town you can view the service at http://www.mountaintopchurch.com/ - click the top right corner to be able to view on the Internet.

If you have not heard about the event "Passing on the Blessings" in honor of Joe - here is the information:

Here is a link to the registration form (thanks Paul!) http://www.40dayblog.com/5k-run/5k-run.pdf The forms are also located at Bob's Bikes, Trak Shak, Mountaintop Community Church, and Kids Closet. The 5K/1mile fun Run/Walk will be on Sunday, March 9th at 2:00 @Veteran's Park (in front of Spain Park High School).

God is just working overtime for this event - it is going to be awesome and you don't want to miss it. For everyone that did not attend the bonfire on New Years Eve you missed such an awesome time. People are still taking about that night so you don't want to miss this one!

God Bless,
Crystal

"I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me." Matthew 25:45

2008-02-12T21:15:00.000-08:00

February 12, 2008

Hey Everyone,

I wanted to give you an update since Joe's last chemo treatment on February 6th. He has not been feeling very well the last couple of days and went to bed tonight at 7:00pm. He was up at 3:00am this morning walking around and woke the kids up for school. I told the kids to go back to bed because it wasn't time to get up yet. His throat and chest hurt tonight along with a headache. He started vomiting today and has slept quite a bit. Since January 22nd his pain medicine has trippled in dosage and the anti nausea medicine was working.

We are entering another phase that we will have to work through and I know that we can do it! He is strong and they have not wiped the smile off his face yet. God is GOOD!

The event I told you about a couple of weeks ago has been finalized. I have not been able to attach a copy of the form to this blog but if you send an email to me at crystallent@peoplepc.com I will send you a registration form back. The forms are also located at Bob's Bikes, Trak Shak, Mountaintop Community Church, and Kids Closet.

The 5K/1mile fun Run/Walk will be on Sunday, March 9th at 2:00 @Veteran's Park (in front of Spain Park High School). The event is called "Passing on the Blessings" in honor of Joe. When I told Joe many years ago that time is something we can all give that does not cost us anything, he took it to heart. Joe has such a heart for helping others that you just can't wait to pass your blessing on to the next person. We hope to see you there!

Please let me know if you have any questions.

God Bless,
Crystal

2008-01-30T18:37:00.000-08:00

January 30, 2008

Hey Everyone,

Things are good - Praise GOD!

So far Joe has had one Chemo treatment and now his hair is falling out, has aweful mouth sores, terrible joint pain, headaches, chest pain, ringing in his ears, fatige, but most of them you would not be able to tell by looking at him. He is very good at not letting people know that he is hurting. They have increased his pain medicine to help with most of the symptoms. He has to go back next Tuesday to have another brain scan and Wednesday to receive his next dose of Chemo (which will be a larger dose).

He has a very positive attitude and has been keeping me very busy since he is no longer working. He is trying to wrap up several projects around the house that have been on the list for a long time. Miscellaneous things that he said would make him feel better to know that they are all done.

Joe wanted me to add that each day he says "This is the day the Lord has made for me and I will rejoice and be glad in it" He also read in his study that "The Lord wants to involve us in his ministry of drawing people to him by the attitudes we have, the things we say, and the way we act - especially in times of adversity and trouble." Don't be afraid to share your faith with others - spread the JOY!

God Bless,
Crystal

2008-01-15T19:09:00.000-08:00

January 15, 2008

Hey everyone,

Joe had his first Chemo treatment yesterday and it took a little over 5 hours. The nausea medicine is working well and he has not felt sick as long as he is taking the medicine. Today he has experienced severe heartburn so the doctor called in some Nexium for him. They said the chemo would kick in around the weekend and he could experience nausea, vomiting, weakness, fatigue, low blood counts, sore mouth, hair loss, etc...

Joe asked the question, " What if I do not take any treatments, how long would I have?" The doctor said, "Your prognosis is pretty damn bleak." She went on to say, "You could possibly at the most have 6 months and in taking this treatment we will not know if it will lengthen that time until the end of April when we do another CT scan."

We know God did not cause Joe's terminal illness. There is nothing good about it but God is also not blindsided by our suffering or Joe's. I read that God causes all the circumstances to work together for good. If we make Christ more at home in our lives, the Spirit of God can be seen in our suffering. And in those circumstances, people clearly see Christ.

Just as Bill said in the service - the devil is on the prowl everyday for all of us and we need to put on our armour each day and pray for each other. It will take all of our brothers and sisters standing together in unity to defeat the evil one. Faithfulness will concur all and we will clearly see Christ in all of this!

There will be a 5k fun run for Joe at Heardmont Park on February 24th for all that want to join us. More details to come so save the date.

In Christ,
Crystal

2008-01-08T17:57:00.000-08:00

January 8th - 2008

Hey everyone,

Joe had the Gamma Knife Radiation today and he did great. We were there a long time but well worth it. They did radiation on the 2 spots they removed the tumors from on Dec. 7th. He will be monitored closely for the next year on his brain. They will do CT scans once every month to detect any tumors that may start growing in his brain. He will have a headache for about week but that should go away. The headache is due partly to the halo that was screwed into his head to keep it still during the procedure.

Chemo will begin on Monday the 14th to make an attempt to slow down the cancer already in the head, lungs and liver. We won't know how the chemo is working until they rescan Joe later in the treatments.

Joe's spirits are still very good and it is very hard for him to sit still but he is working on it. He took his Faith booklet with him today and highlighted some areas while he waited. He even cracked a few jokes.

Thank for all the help, thoughts, and prayers we have received. If you don't have a prayer card for Joe yet please let me know and I will get one to you. They are little cards that have a rainbow on one side and a reminder to pray on the other with Joe's name and a bible verse. Thank you Joey and Kelly for creating them. They are very special to Joe and I - so if you would like one please let me know.

God Bless,
Crystal

Something Joe circled in his book today:

"My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."
Luke 1:46-47

2007-12-17T13:58:00.000-08:00

December 17th,

We went to the Oncologist today and found out that Joe has stage 4 terminal cancer. It has spread to his lungs and liver. They have scheduled the Gamma Knife Radiation for the 2 brain tumours for January 8th. They will begin chemotherapy on January 14th. It will be a 4 month cycle, giving chemo every 3 weeks. Once the 4 months if up the they will scan again to see if the cancer has responded well to the treatment. There are no guarantees that the treatment will work. If after the 4 months the cancer is not responding they will need to change the drugs and try again. In the mean time another brain tumour could come up because the chemo does not penetrate to the brain so any existing tumours can still grow.

They have not made the direct connection between the brain tumours and the tonsil cancer. They have requested the original biopsy samples from Brookwood Hospital to compare with the brain tumour samples. We should find something out about this on December 26th.

They also told us today that normal head and neck cancers don't spread to the brain. If cancer goes to the brain it usually flows from the lungs. They will not do any other scans to locate the primary location if it does not match the tonsil cancer. They said it would not matter anyway since it has already spread. The oncologist, ENT and Neurosurgeon have never seen a head & neck primary spread to the brain so if Joe's did spread from the neck primary then he will be the first one.

They would not give an exact life expectancy time frame because they don't want us to dwell on a date. We are expecting a Mega Miracle as Bill would say! We know it can happen and also know that we are not promised tomorrow. The Lord will deliver us in perfect peace when he is ready. We will see the neurosurgeon tomorrow and I will give another update.

God Bless,
Crystal

2007-12-13T17:42:00.000-08:00

Joe has been doing very well the last few days. He has lots of energy and is eager to get moving with radiation and next steps with the third tumor. We still don't have the plan from the doctors but our next appointment is on Monday December 17th with the chemotherapy doctor. Then Tuesday with the Neurosurgeon to discuss Gamma Knife Radiation on January 8th. Joe has some blurred vi son in his left eye but the doctor said it could be from the brain swelling. They gave him 2 extra days of steroids to see if it clears up. He has not taken any pain medicine in the last 2 days and feels good. He has some cramping in his neck still but not enough pain to take meds. Looks like Monday is when we will have more answers and will update again then. Have a great weekend and I am looking forward to decorating the house for Christmas tomorrow.

In Christ,

Crystal

"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith" 1 Peter 5:8-9

2007-12-10T18:17:00.000-08:00

December 10th, 2007

As most of you know Joe's cancer has returned. Please know that Joe is and has been from the beginning in good spirits. He knows that God will be working in amazing ways during this....

For the past few months I have been telling him that I thought something was wrong and that he didn't seem himself. He has had a headache off and on for about a month and it had progressively got worse over the last week. On Sunday Dec. 2nd he was slurring his words and told me that he was just tired and went to bed. The next day he only worked about 4 hours then went home and fell asleep. When I got home from work he was asleep on the couch so I woke him up and he said he still had a headache and took some Advil. Even though he was slurring his words he insisted that he was just dehydrated and would be fine. I went to pick the kids up and then Joe went with us to pick out a Christmas tree for the house. We went to bed early that night and he was going to help with the kids the next morning, Tuesday Dec 3rd. When morning came Joe still had his headache but was convinced again he was just dehydrated and took some more Advil and went back to bed. I tried several time to call him to see how he was doing be could not reach him until about 1:00.

When I talked to Joe at 1:00 he said he was having a bad day and should have stayed home. I asked what he meant by that - he said he could not tie his shoes. He looked at the shoes - knew that he should know how to tie them, but couldn't remember how. Then he tried to drive to a customers house a couple blocks away and got lost. He said that red lights, stop signs, etc... were confusing him. He was stopping at green lights, running red lights, yielding at stop signs, and pulling out in front of people. He knew he was doing it wrong but just felt confused. It was so hard to understand what he was saying because he was slurring his words so much. He said he was trying to hang a picture and couldn't tell me where exactly where he was.

I left work and found him about 2 miles from the house and he was fixing a fence. He was having a hard time talking and I could see that he could not use a hammer. He walked to the side yard and walked around a tree about three times and the just stood there. I asked he what he was doing and he relied "I forgot." He did not drink anything that day because could not remember how to remove the lid from the cooler in his van. I told him that I was taking him to the emergency room but he really didn't want to go.

I picked the kids up from school and we went home so I could change clothes. While changing Joe began vomiting outside in the yard so we rushed to UAB emergency. 6 hours later we saw a doctor and Joe was taken for a CT scan after a long series of questions and hands on tests. He did not want to wait at the ER but I told him that we were going to find out what was wrong before leaving. It was very hard to keep Joe waiting for 6 hours sitting up in a chair with his head pounding. He kept insisting we just go home so he could go to bed and that he was just dehydrated.

The main ER doctor came in the room just minutes after Joe returned from CT and told us that the it showed 2 large brain tumors so he called a neurologist to speak with us. The neurologist said there was a lot of swelling on his brain and Joe would have to be admitted to the hospital immediately. They began to give him steroids to attempt to reduce the swelling and morphine to reduce the pain.

After being admitted to the hospital the neurologist made the decision they would not due surgery on Wednesday in an effort to keep the steroids pumping to reduce the swelling by Friday. The surgery was scheduled for 7:oo on Friday December 7th and took about 6 hours to complete both tumors. We don't know how much of the tumors they were able to remove but the surgeon said the surgery was very successful in her opinion. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) she scored it a 10. His speech cleared up, strength back, dexterity was back, etc was back. Joe spent half the day Saturday in the NICU but was doing so well that Saturday about 1:00 they put him in a regular room again. He was doing even better on Sunday and Joe was able to come home about 5:00 Sunday night. God is so good and continues to look out for us. Joe is a true Shepherd and allows God to guide his path.

Now we are waiting to hear what the next plan will be because a third tumor has been found behind his ear. I will keep this blog updated as we find out more information from the Doctors.

We love you all and this is just a brief update of the events. I tried to keep it as short as possible but it was very hard. Several people have asked how they can help us and several things are being coordinated through our Church, Mountaintop Community Church. You can reach Patrice Williams at splowill4@yahoo.com or Stephanie Barnes at rbarnes9551@charter.net if you would like to help. We appreciate the everyone praying for us and it truly means a lot.

God Bless,
Crystal Lent

Wes, Thank you for this verse:
James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith developes perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

2006-12-13T10:01:00.000-08:00

Good afternoon! The doctor visit went very well on Monday. They said that the left node area was negative for cancer and that the pathology report showed there were cancer cell in the right side but feel very confident that everything was removed. Joe will have to go back every 6 weeks for the next 2 years then every 3 months after that for 2 more years. He said that if it is going to come back it usually happens within the first 3 years. Joe felt really good the first few days after the surgery by that last few his has not felt very well. It is just going to take some time for his neck to heal. They weighed him on Monday and he is a whopping 154 pounds! No offence to those to weigh this but my Joe usually is around 190.

I wanted to request that everyone send a note or just something brief so I may put it in Joe's scrapbook. All the entries and comments from this blog are in there along with all the cards that we have received so I wanted to put any personal messages or letters you would like to send in there also. This is something we will never forget and I wanted to make something for Joe to look back at because most of the time his was on medicine and did not know everything that was happening.

If you want to send it by mail our address is:
1421 Roundhill Road
Vestavia Hills, AL 35216

or Email: crystallent@peoplepc.com

God Bless,
Crystal

2006-12-09T09:16:00.000-08:00

Joe is doing great. He has been sleeping quite a bit the last 2 days which is good. His neck has been sore with all the staples. They cut through the muscles in his neck so it will be sore for a while. The swelling has not gone down enough to see if you will be able to notice that there is missing tissue in his neck. His staples will come out on Monday and then just recovery from there. We are not sure what the follow-up schedule will be but should find out on Monday. We are grateful to God that he put all the people in our lives to guide us to the best doctors. We could not have gotten through any of this without God, our church family, family and friends by our sides the whole time. The last five months seem like years to me and I am glad they are behind us.

God Bless,
Crystal

2006-12-06T12:52:00.000-08:00

GOD IS GOOD!!!!!!! We are finally home and it felt so great to get the wonderful new yesterday that there was no cancer in the primary location (Tonsil and Tongue). They were able to cut out the cancer that was in the right lymph node and surrounding area and the left lymph node and surrounding area. The left side did not show any cancer but the doctor wanted to be sure and remove them because they were enlarged and wanted to test them further. The incisions are pretty wild looking because the go from his ear down close to his adams apple. The left incision is not as big as the right side but still big. They have staples in them now which will be removed Monday morning. Joe feels as good as he did when he went in yesterday for the surgery except he has pain in his neck. They gave him pain medicine and hopefully will only have to take it the rest of this week.

Joe has always had a peace and believed that God was going to heal him and yesterday Joe said that it is was a great verbal confirmation from the doctor that it was true. He has had such a great attitude about this the whole time. Of course we all have our moment of the flesh side getting involved because nobody is perfect. Thanks to all thoes prayers that have been said and give all the glory to GOD! It only takes a musturd seed!!!!!!!

God Bless,
Crystal

2006-12-05T20:10:00.000-08:00

We recently got in from visiting with Joe and Crystal. The update is fabulous news--the doctors were able to remove his left lymph node and some surrounding tissue, less than on the right side. They feel confident they removed all of it and will get pathology reports soon to confirm this. Yeah, God!!

Crystal requested prayer for Joe's saliva glands. One side was destroyed with radiation and now the other side isn't producing either. Please pray this is a temporary thing!

Crystal will give more details tomorrow. Joe's doing so well and he's hoping to come home tomorrow but may have to wait until Thursday.

Keep lifting Joe and family up in prayer!

Blessings to all! Stephanie

2006-12-05T11:55:00.000-08:00

Just got the update from Crystal: Joe's tonsils and tongue are clear of cancer---Praise God!!! His right lymph (this is were the growth was coming from) node had cancer but was completely removed along with surrounding tissue. The doctors were working on his left lymph node now. Crystal said this was good news:)

Keep praying!! And we'll post more soon:)

2006-12-05T07:46:00.000-08:00

Hello all! I just got word from Crystal about Joe. He went back to surgery around 9:30 AM and they expect it to take about 2 hours. Crystal says Joe had a great attitude. He really is amazing, isn't he?

As soon as I get an update, I'll post it.

Please keep the prayers coming!!!!

Stephanie

2006-12-04T13:55:00.000-08:00

I wanted to let everyone know that we have to be at UAB 6:30am December 5th. I think the surgery will be about 8:00am. I will be at the North Pavilion waiting area after they take Joe into the operating room. I will let you know as soon as possible how he is doing and when he will be in his room. He will spend the night at UAB and hopefully go home sometime on Wednesday. Joe has a great peace about tomorrow and we know that we are in Gods hands!

God Bless and Pray Hard,
Crystal

2006-12-01T17:20:00.000-08:00

www.geoffgottlieb.org/wp-content/joe-2.wvx This is the link to the CBS 42 story.

Joe is feeling a whole lot stronger which is good for his surgery on Tuesday. Our insurance is now covering his boost (it will have more vitamins and things he really needs right now) but we still need bottled water for him to put through his tube. The more fluids that he gets in his body a day the better. He is moving around more so he is burning calories and needs even more to replenish his system. He is still light headed quite often and still has to be careful. Joe looks so much better just in the last 2 weeks. I think everyone has noticed an improvement which is great. Hope to see everyone Sunday at the nature trail 1:30. (Remember this is a surprise for Joe)

God Bless,
Crystal

2006-11-29T07:21:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! We hope that you had a great holiday with friends and family. The CBS Channel 42 News aired a great story about Joe and the wonderful support group that we have from our Mountain Top family, friends and community. We are very thankful for all the support everyone has shown to us during all of this and cannot thank you enough. There are some thing going on that I wanted to let everyone know about:

At the Memphis Marathon this weekend December 2nd "TEAM JOE" led by Geoff Gottlieb will take place. "Team Joe" was created by Geoff and Skip and was also featured in the CBS 42 news piece to get the word out to pray. THANKS GEOFF!! I have a copy of the News piece if anyone knows how to add it to this BLOG let me know. I could only find how to add pictures.

"Team Joe" will be running in the Mercedes Half/Whole Marathon in February if anyone is interested let me know.

There will be a surprise for Joe this Sunday Dec. 3rd at 1:30. Cara Hunter (Cara.Hunter@UNIFORM.ARAMARK.com) has put the word out about a fun run/walk/jog at the nature trail that is next to our house. There is some parking here at the Nature trail or along the road, or also across the street next to the ball fields on HWY 31. Hope to see you here!

Joe has been feeling a whole lot better and is getting around more. He is able to do things for about and hour before having to rest and that is a big improvement from just two weeks ago when climbing the stairs was a big task. I hope to know more information about the surgery scheduled for Tuesday December 5th in the next couple of days and will let you know.

God Bless,
Crystal

2006-11-20T19:50:00.000-08:00

The appointment with the surgeon was today and surgery is scheduled for December 5th. They have Joe on call if there is a cancellation to move him up but I will let you know if that happens. He said the same things today that the Radiation doctor said last Thursday.

Best case is that they go in and there is nothing on his tonsil area and the biopsy that they do while they are in there come back clean then they will remove the tumor that is growing on the neck and any other lymph nodes that are abnormal in that area. They are also going to test a node on the left side that is enlarged to see if there are any cancer cells that will need to be removed at the same time.

If there is anything around the tonsil or tongue area they are going to stop and reschedule Joe for a Radical dissection of the neck which will be a 5 hour surgery. They will remove anything that has cancer cells and then will have to rebuild the neck wall with skin from another place on his body. Pray this is not the case and that someone will cancel so Joe will get in sooner before anything grows anywhere else. The doctor said that there is a good possibility that the tumor that is growing in his neck may not be cancer. Only the Lord knows what is in there right now and we can all pray that when the surgery comes that there is nothing for them to find.

They are going to remove Joes port during the surgery because it is bothering him now that he has lost so much weight. The nurse that gave him fluids the other day did a number on him. He said that it really hurt. He has been feeling a whole lot better these last 5 or 6 days. He is starting to have more energy and talking more. We still have not figured out the key to sleeping. I have no idea why it has been so hard trying to figure this out but it is the million dollar question. Even 2 Ambiens did not make him sleep more than 3 hours! I am really looking forward to the 4 day weekend to get some rest.

God Bless,
Crystal

2006-11-16T15:18:00.000-08:00

Bad news today. They have moved Joes appointment with the surgeon from 11-27 to 11-20. He has to go to the doctor next Monday the 20th and we find out the exact day that the surgery will be. The tumor has begun to grow again in his neck and it is about 2cmx2cm already. They are not sure about the one on his tonsil yet. He is still dehydrated and they changed his sleeping medicine to Ambien. All the phloem building up in his mouth is due to dehydration and they gave him 1 more bag of fluids today. More to come.....

Love,
Crystal

2006-11-14T16:55:00.000-08:00

We just got home about an hour ago and this past weekend was very difficult. Joe could not hold down much food or water. He was blacking out more and was not able to sleep. I wanted him to go to the Emergency room but he did not want to go until we spoke to the Doctor. I called the Doctor first thing on Monday morning and he told me bring him into the Emergency room right away. After we arrived there they hooked Joe up to a IV and started pumping fluids into him and did x-rays and bloodwork. They said his Magnesium levels were low and injected that into his fluid bag. They said that the x-rays were fine and that there was no blockage that they could see. Finally they were able to determine that not only was Joe dehydrated because of vomiting but that his blood pressure was extremely low. We have to note any changes in laying down, sitting up and standing. He has a CT scan on Thursday and then sees his Radiology Doctor, but I don't know what kind of information she will be able to give about how much cancer is left. Trisha is going check with the doctor to see if they can set up some days each week to give Joe fluids so this does not happen again. They check his levels before giving the fluids which I think should be done regularly. What if we just waited instead of going to the Emergency room? They just don't tell you everything and what you do find out is only by asking questions because the do not offer any information. Hopefully you ask all the right ones to get enough information to get through each situation without it turning fatal. It is no fun being on pins and needles all the time not knowing what is going to happen today, tomorrow, or next week.

Anyway, Joe feels a whole lot better now!!! He is talking more and moving around more. He is no longer taking pain medicine or any nausea medicine and is doing fine.

Love,
Crystal

2006-11-10T20:49:00.000-08:00

Joe has been doing better the last few days. He tried to eat something by mouth tonight but vomited so that did not work. He also has not taken any pain medicine or nausea medicine today (He's hard headed). Last night about 2am he got out of bed and fell by the dresser. He hit his head and back on the dresser. I got him off the floor and back in bed and asked him why he got up and he said to make a candy bar? I think the fall woke him up real fast because he hit really hard. He seemed ok when I left for work this morning and the kids were here all day with him because school was out. He is down to 155lbs now and hopefully will start gaining weight soon. I took some pictures of him last Monday and will try to have them developed this weekend to show ya'll how skinny he is now. I will have to find a before picture to put beside it. He is still eating by feeding tube but he really wants to eat by mouth and it is not possible yet.

Till Tomorrow,
Crystal

2006-11-07T21:05:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone. He looks like he feels a little better today. He still has the ringing in his ears and it magnifies high pitch sounds. He vomited a while ago when he put robitussin in his tube and there was a pocket of air in there also and he pushed it into his stomach. He could feel the air bubble in his stomach but could not burp to get is out and then vomited. He did not do any food by mouth today but hopes to start sometime this week. He slept quite a bit today which could have been due to all the rain we were getting. I like to sleep when it rains because it is calming and peaceful to me. Well time for bed, I will blog again tomorrow night.

God Bless,
Crystal

2006-11-06T20:21:00.000-08:00

Today has been a good day for Joe. He had some energy and said that he is going to try eating a little bit of soup and drinking some by mouth this week. He will be ok if he can control the pain because even drinking water burns. I was sick myself this week and had to go to the doctors for a shot and Matt seems to have a cold now. We are trying to keep it all away from Joe so he won't get sick. Joe still has not gained any weight and is down to 157lbs. His color has improved and the good hours are becoming more frequent in the day. He has not vomited at all today compared to about 2 or more times a day in the previous weeks. Thank you very much for continuing to check this blog to see how Joe is doing.

Love,
Crystal

2006-11-02T18:04:00.000-08:00

Not a good day today. Joe vomited twice today one time while I was talking to him on the phone. Just from talking he felt very nauseous and vomited. He has been trying to walk around more out in the yard to get some fresh air. His face seems to have more color in it today. He just ate through the tube and now he is sleeping. Sweet dreams honey.

Love,
Crystal

2006-11-02T09:50:00.000-08:00

We still have not heard back from the Doctors office about joy's blood work and I have called twice. He has lost hearing but they have not told us how much. He was not able to eat much through his tube yesterday because he just did not feel well. I got him up this morning to take medicine and eat, but he did not sleep well last night and did not really want to get up this morning. He still has not started to improve and the doctor said that it will be another couple of weeks before we see any improvement. Wow! Joe and I were taking last night about how long it has been already. In 2 more weeks it will have been 4 months since Joe returned from Colorado not feeling like himself. Time flies except when your in bed staring at the ceiling because you can't sleep :(

Crystal

2006-11-01T06:25:00.000-08:00

2006-10-30T15:33:00.000-08:00

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

2006-10-26T08:21:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-22T19:52:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-19T17:58:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-17T09:58:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-14T17:12:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-12T17:17:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-11T19:47:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-09T20:53:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-08T17:04:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-03T17:54:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-01T14:55:00.000-07:00

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

2006-09-25T21:33:00.000-07:00

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

2006-09-23T08:57:00.000-07:00

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

2006-09-18T20:51:00.000-07:00

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

2006-09-15T19:33:00.000-07:00

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

2006-09-14T19:36:00.000-07:00

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

2006-09-12T19:35:00.000-07:00

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

2006-09-11T21:16:00.000-07:00

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

2006-09-10T13:52:00.000-07:00

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

2006-09-07T17:08:00.000-07:00

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

2006-09-06T21:04:00.000-07:00

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

2006-09-05T20:20:00.000-07:00

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

2006-09-04T10:42:00.000-07:00

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

2006-09-01T07:58:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

We had a sleepless night at UAB. Dr. Carroll took a biopsy of Joes left Tonsil yesterday because it looked irregular but we do not know the results of that yet. Until they find out about that the Radiation will be only on the right side of his neck and throat.

Joe started Chemo and Radiation today! YEA!!!! Chemo started this morning at UAB and we arrived at the office at 8:00am after Joe was released from the Hospital. It went very well about 5hrs and he had 2 bags of saline, 1 bag of Nausea medicine, and his Chemo drugs (Cisplatin - likely will not cause hair loss just thinning) . It does not sound like much but it takes awhile to put it in his port, which worked perfectly. After we were done there we headed to grab a quick bite to eat and then we were off to the Radiation doctor for the first dose of Radiation. It took a couple of hours to do once they got started in that room. I was able to take a picture of Joe with his mask on when he was on the laser table with his head fastened down. I am making a scrapbook for Joe and they let me take a picture of him in there. So far tonight his has taken his pain medicine and nausea medicine and it has worked great. The doctor said that the Chemo would likely affect him most from tomorrow all through the weekend. He has to be at UAB/Radiation daily at 8:30am. They are still deciding whether to give him 2 treatments on Fridays.

He said today that he felt like an old man when he pulled out his bag of pills to take some pain medicine at the Radiology office. HA! HA!. His attitude was very good today and the nurses just loved him. I will update you tomorrow on how he feels. Till then...

Love,
Crystal

2006-08-29T16:31:00.000-07:00

Surgery today was at 8:00am and they finished about 8:45. When he woke up there was tremedous amount of pain and they were trying to manage it. The doctor took some additional xrays to be sure the placement of the feeding tube was correct. We were put in a room about 3:00 and they did another xray to be sure where the additional pain was comming from. The doctor said the xrays looked good and they will keep an eye on it overnight. Joe is scheduled for Chemo in the morning at 8:00 but they know we will probably be late because they want us to check out then go over to the Kirklin Clinic part of UAB. As soon as they complete the Chemo (about 4-6 hrs) we will go straight to Radiation for a treatment. They are only going to do Chemo on the 1st day of treatment, the 22nd day of treatment, and the week after treatment has ended. The radiation will be 5 days a week for 8 weeks approx. We should be home tomorrow around 6:00pm.

Love,
Crystal

2006-08-29T02:34:00.000-07:00

We are on our way to UAB for Joe's surgery. I will update you on how Joe is doing either late morning or early afternoon. I should find out today about the radiation schedule and anything else that may hold up progress. We hope that everything will be done and we will finally enter the tunnel to get through to the other side of this. Thanks for all the support!

Love,
Crystal

2006-08-27T19:24:00.000-07:00

Joe only slept about about 2 hours last night because he is not taking his pain medicine only Advil. I think that will change in the next few days after things get going and he has surgery on Tuesday. He does have a headache, ear pain, and throat pain that's not extreme but it does hurt enough to toss & turn all night. Tomorrow morning he is going to UAB at 9:00 for Pre-Opp (just a meeting to discuss what will happen on Tuesday with the feeding tube), 9:30 for Echo Cardiogram, and 10:30 for more blood work. We will also find out what time the surgery on Tuesday will be and I will let you know tomorrow night.

I wanted to let you know (if you don't) how to leave a comment on this site for us to read. It is very easy and you do not have to have an account. This is what you do:

1. Click below on "Comments" (there may me a number in front of it)
2. Type you comments in the box and put your name after you comments.
3. Click on the circle in front of "Anonymous" (this lets you leave a comment without having an account.)
4. Go to the "Word Verification" line and enter what you see in the graphic.
5. Then you can click the button "Login and Post"
6. YOUR DONE!

Please let me know if you have any questions about Joe and I will be sure to address them on the website. Or if you want to keep them private my email address is: crystallent@peoplepc.com

Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Love,
Crystal

2006-08-26T20:31:00.000-07:00

Joe has "Cabin Fever." He told me today that he has not taken any pain medicine since Wednesday night. I will not let him drive while on the pain medicine and now he has stopped taking it. He says that it doesn't hurt very much, but he still has the pain in his ear and throat. I think he just wants to be able to get out of the house more and I don't blame him. He never has been one for sitting around with nothing to occupy him. He told me this morning he was going to toole around on his bike for a short distance. I was afraid for him to go and I cried for about the first 15 minutes after he left. Josie and I started cooking to keep my mind off of it, but I just couldn't. He was gone for about and hour and it seemed like all morning. He was glad that he went and I was supportive of his decision, but it did not make it any easier. I try very hard to be the Proverbs 31 wife that my husband deserves and I know that I can do all things through Christ.

God Bless,
Crystal

2006-08-25T19:01:00.000-07:00

UAB called today and said Joe will have to have his blood work done again on Monday because the blood work from this past Wednesday showed an increase in sugar levels and Electrolyte levels. The Doctors said they would feel better if it was tested again to be sure. They did not say what this would affect it they are still higher than normal after being re-tested on Monday. He slept quite a bit today and just stayed in his pajamas. He was glad to have some visitors today, thanks for coming by.

God Bless,
Crystal

2006-08-24T16:46:00.001-07:00

Well today we were able to have the CT scan done. They put dye in his arm and he said it make him feel very warm all over. He also had his stitches removed by Dr. Bitran at Brookwood Hospital where he had his port put in last week. Dr. Bitran said that it looks very good and that he would like to be the one to remove it when Joe is done with his treatments. He said that he will miss us but he understands that you have to go where you are comfortable. Dr. Bitran was the surgeon from Brookwood that we initially saw and he took great care of us. He also told us to call him anytime we needed to.

No other tests will be done until Monday morning and then surgery at UAB on Tuesday in which he will have to spend the night.

Thanks to all that check to see how my husband is doing. I love him very much!

Love,
Crystal

2006-08-23T17:04:00.000-07:00

Well your going to love this.....HE HAS TO WAIT! When we got to UAB today, they checked his file and found that there were 4 test that they needed to be done before Chemo. They are also requesting that his feeding tube be put in before they begin. We were very frustrated because these test could have been done from last Wednesday till today. Today we had a chest x-ray done and bloodwork done. This took from 1:10 to 6:00, whole afternoon. Tomorrow Joe has his stitches removed from the Port surgery he had done last week. We have to be on call for a CT scan of his head and he will have an Echocardiogram done Monday morning at 9:30. He will have surgery on Tuesday to insert the feeding tube and will have to stay overnight in the hospital. Then if all this is done before next Wednesday the Chemo will begin.

Please pray to for understanding in the procedures at the hospital. We know things take time but sometimes it seems we are standing in the dark.

Will keep you informed.

Love,
Crystal

2006-08-22T20:16:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, Tomorrow is the start day! Joe did not sleep well again last night but felt better this morning. He went to the Church for a Kick-off of the Men's Study Group and after that he went to sleep for about 5 to 6 hours. He was able to eat breakfast and lunch today without Magical Mouthwash. YEAH! But it hurt to eat dinner tonight?

Tomorrow we will be going to UAB at 1:30 and if everything checks out they will begin the Chemo. We don't know how long it will take, but I will enter an update as soon as we get home.

Love,
Crystal

2006-08-21T20:53:00.000-07:00

Today started out really good. He did not sleep well last night but felt good this morning after his shower. Some visitors stopped by during the day and he enjoyed the company. About 4:30 he started feeling bad. He felt nauseous and was having a lot of hot flashes. (He says that he is pre-menopausal! HAHA!) Which could be due to his ear hurting more though, because it would mess with your equilibrium. We are going to see if they will change his medicine again this Wednesday. He just don't have the right potion that works best yet. Till tomorrow....

God Bless,
Crystal

2006-08-20T20:20:00.000-07:00

Great Day Today. We went to church and then hung out at the house. The magical mouth wash worked at lunch and dinner today perfectly. They are still experimenting with his pain medicine to make him more comfortable at night. Sometimes it works great and then other times it does not help much. The tumors are pressing on the nerves in his throat and neck area and that is what gives him the throat, ear, and tooth(mouth) pain. Overall today was a great day visiting with friends and hanging out. Joe is really ready to begin his treatment next week. He is ready to "GET THROUGH THIS"!!!!!!!Next week things begin to happen, please keep praying and I will keep you informed as to what is happening.

Love,
Crystal

2006-08-19T18:33:00.000-07:00

Today was a very nice day. Many friends stopped by today and Joe really enjoyed that. I want to say a huge "THANK YOU" to everyone that has helped out with our household in any way. Helping out with prayers, yard work, kids, transportation for Joe and the kids, homework, groceries, dinners, $, etc. would not be possible without all our friends and family. I found this in a Friendship book Lynn bought me:

Generous Hearts
Love each other as brothers and sisters and honor others more that you do yourself. Never give up. Eagerly follow the Holy Spirit and serve the Lord. Let your hope make you glad. Be patient in time of trouble and never stop praying. Take care of God's needy people and welcome strangers into your home. Romans 12:10-13(CEV)

Thanks again for being Generous Hearts!

Love,

Crystal

2006-08-18T16:28:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Joe on the Colorado trip mid July. It is hard to comprehend that about three weeks after that trip he was diagnosed with cancer. Joe has a great attitude about everything that is happening and he will do very well mentally with the treatments. He is still trying to gain at least 10+ pounds or more. We received some Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo (one of my favorite foods) for dinner tonight and it was the best I have ever had. I would like to thank everyone for their payers and support throughout all of this.
Love,
Crystal

2006-08-17T20:03:00.000-07:00

08/17/06

Joe slept all night long with the new pain medicine they prescribed yesterday. He went in today and had his mask made and had the CT scan done. He has gained about 10lbs! Only 10+ to go before they begin treatments. If he can keep his weight up they will not have to put in a feeding tube (which only about 5% don't get one). He felt really good today and was outside walking around. Please stop in this weekend if you have time.

Love,
Crystal

2006-08-16T19:04:00.000-07:00

08/16/06

Today we went to UAB to meet with the team of doctors that will be in charge of Joes treatment. They have determined that the primary source of the cancer is in the tonsil and the secondary is in the lymph node. The cancer is Stage 4 and has progressed to far to perform surgery because the surgery would be to radical. Joe is going to the Oncologist tomorrow and have a CT scan done and then they will make a mask for the radiology treatments. The Oncologist will take about 7 to 10 days to set up everything for the treatments. Even thought he will have to wait another week to begin treatment we feel confident in the decision to switch to UAB. The plan is to do a Loading dose of Chemo on the 23rd and then start radiation the following week. It will be a 7 to 8 week process at UAB instead of 16weeks at Brookwood. They have also switched his pain medication to a stronger dose so he will be able to sleep better at night. They gave him some magical mouthwash today and he swallows 2 teaspoons, rinses his mouth out and waits 20 minutes before eating. This worked great at supper tonight, the numbness lasted about and hour. Hope everyone is having a great week!
Love,
Crystal

2006-08-15T16:59:00.000-07:00

08/15/06

Today started very early. We had to be at Brookwood Hospital at 6:00am this morning. Joes surgery went very well. He now has an Implanted Port on the right side of his chest up toward his collar bone. His shoulder has been really sore and he has slept most of the day.

We are going to UAB tomorrow morning at 8:00am to meet with the team of doctors that will be telling us what the next step will be and when it will happen. Also tomorrow Joe will have a CAT scan at 2:30. I am sure we will have a lot of information tomorrow.

Till Tomorrow,
Crystal

True friends are a sure refuge.

Aristotle

2006-08-14T21:33:00.000-07:00

08/14/06

Jesus is working overtime not only with everyone helping us keep our house in its daily routine but the daily blessings we are receiving in Joes diagnosis. We were able to get in to see Dr. Carroll at UAB today at 2:00 (can you believe that!) We have decided to transfer all our care to UAB. Dr. Carroll said that we should still get the Hickman IV put in tomorrow at Brookwood Hospital because it was already scheduled. We have to be there at 6:00am and the surgery will begin at 8:00am. Joe will also still have a CAT scan done at Brookwood on Wednesday at 2:30pm and we will just take the results to UAB.

Our next visit to UAB will be on Wednesday 8/16 @ 8:00am when we will meet with an Oncology and chemotherapy team of doctors to determine the course of action they are going to take. After speaking with Pat Sullivan (he had the same cancer as Joe) and Bryan Wilks (works with ENT doctors) we have determined that being at a Cancer Facility will be the best thing for Joe. We want to thank those guys for taking the time to make sure we had all the information that we needed to make an informed decision about this. We are truly blessed with great family and friends. Thank you all so much.
Love,
Crystal

2006-08-13T21:28:00.000-07:00

08/13/06:

Hey everyone! I would like to thank Paul Podraza for setting this site up for us. Below I have added all the posting I have done so far.
Tomorrow we will find out what the results from the doctor at 2:00pm. We hope to hear from UAB also to see when they can get us in to review Joes information. We will be going to Brookwood Hospital for Surgery to have the Hickman IV put in on Tuesday morning at 4:30am. Joe had a good day again today. The swelling has went down some more that is why his throat is hurting more, but he still had a good day. Will let you know more tomorrow.

08/10/06
Today was a good day for Joe. He was very talkative and wide awake. Thanks to everyone who stopped by tonight it really lifted Joes spirits. I guess after being put to sleep yesterday he was able to sleep very deep. We went to the Chemo doctor today and the schedule has changed from what we thought on Monday. He will have the PET scan done tomorrow and it will determine which of the following schedule they will be doing:

1. If the PET scan shows no other cancer (or hot spots) except the 2 tumors that have already been identified then he will have surgery on Tuesday to insert a Hickman IV Port and begin Chemo the same day. He will have 1 chemo treatment every week for 8 weeks then in the 9th week they will add radiation treatments 1per day 5 days a week for 8 more weeks in addition to the Chemo 1 time each week. This will make a total of 16weeks, and then follow-up with a few more weeks of very strong Chemo. They hope that this will put it in remission. This has a 55% chance of remission (better than half).

2. If the PET scan shows hot spots in his lungs then they will not do radiation and Joe will still have surgery on Tuesday to put in the Hickman IV Port, start just Chemo, and schedule a biopsy on what they find to determine if it is cancer.

Thanks for the emails, support, and prayers. I want yall to know that I look forward to reading all your emails every night. It is wonderful to know that we have so much support.

Crystal

8/09/06
Today was a hard day. We were at the Hospital From 10:00 to 7:00 and Joe was in the operating room