Patience is a virtue and learning from experience is good!

Team Taylor has learned many things on this journey, one of which is that schedules are kind of pointless and the only schedule or calendar that is needed is the lab results. The last week or so has been yet another reminder of that. After a lab that revealed a decreasing ANC of 695, our Hero's oral chemo meds were cut in half with the intention of returning to normal dosages after this week’s labs. Well, this week’s numbers revealed a 34.0 Hematocrit, 198 Platelets and a lower ANC of 289. So instead of pushing it the doctors suggested taking the week off in order to prepare for the start of the Delayed Intensification on April 23rd. Again, keeping in mind that that is dependent upon Joe avoiding illness and his ANC getting back up to 750.

How is all this reshuffling and variation affecting JoJo you ask? Well, simply put, it's not. Mom says that he's been a champ, including strutting into the hospital like he owns the place. We can all agree that if courage and bravery were currency, he'd own the hospital, the block it sits on and the city in which it resides. Our Hero has been the shining example of how to take pills and deal with multiple finger pokes. No complaints, no tears, no fear. He really is starting to take his Hero persona seriously.

But fret not extended Team Taylor members, JoJo's life hasn't been all blood draws and chemo treatments. As they say, you can take Joe out of a 'normal boy's life' but you can't take the 'normal boy's life' out of Joe. He's been playing baseball, running around with his big brother Paul, his cousins and his friends and had a fantastic trip to the awesome Great Wolf Resort water park. Unfortunately for Joseph, his efforts to convince Mom and Dad to allow him to quit school have fallen on deaf ears. That is a monster that even this Hero can't slay.

It has been fantastic to see the return of the kind, affectionate, inquisitive, loving and caring boy that everyone knows Joe to be. But as great as that's been, Team Taylor is lamenting the very real probability that when the aggressive treatments (50 days of high steroid doses, bi-weekly chemo and dealing with discomfort, trouble sleeping, insatiable cravings, etc.) return, the "Real JoJo" will disappear for a while. However, if there is another thing Team Taylor has learned is that the "Real JoJo" is fiercely resilient and will never be far.

So with that, Team Taylor prepares for next week and the start of the last tough phase of the treatment as well as Greek Easter. Now it's also important to realize for everyone else that the break isn't just over for Joe, it's over for all of us too - crank up those prayers and positive thoughts, the finish line of the hard part of the treatment is in site, but it's a steep home stretch. Stay tuned...