This stuff is a pain in the butt... literally!

Our Hero plods on bravely and in the view of the nurses, they are very happy with how he is doing considering the intense nature of this phase of the treatment. But even with that, JoJo has his challenges and tough stuff. As we mentioned last time, one of the meds causes a breakdown in his soft tissue in areas like the mouth, the nose, the throat and well... his butt. So yes, sometimes this stuff can literally be a pain in the butt. But the pain meds have helped with that and even turn Joe funny and talkative.

But as hero knows, it's not all parades and Yiayia's lasagna. Sometimes it's tough to figure out why need to be, as Joseph puts it, "in his personal business." A man needs his privacy after all! This is a lot to wrap your head around. But he isn't much for complaining, Joe, like his Mom and Grandfather, just prefers to be grumpy instead. I think we all agree, our Hero is entitled to feel anyway he likes.

It appears JoJo also is feeling entitled to eat whatever he likes - he eats roughly twenty meals per day. Below is a list of what he ate between 6:10am and 12:30pm on Tuesday:

Oatmeal w/ raspberries
2 soy sausages
1/2 of a peanut butter bagel
1 piece of bacon
Lays chips
Corn dog
Mini pizza
Cheetos

He truly is a slave to his cravings but with the end of this part of this phase in site, they will subside so it's ok to indulge him. (The funny thing is, if he's not eating food, he's talking about it - if anyone was wondering Blanca's eggs are the best, Dad's are the worst, but his pancakes are the best.)

Yesterday was the trip to the doc for lab tests and it was a mixed bag. His Hematocrit (37.6) and Platlets (262) are great, while his WBC (L1.5) and ANC (413) need improvement. But none of this is a shock although it may delay starting the next step as his body needs to be ready (specifically that ANC needs to get back up over 750.) But even the delay is not a huge thing as only 1/3 of patients going through are ready to go right away, another 1/3 need an additional week and a final 1/3 need two weeks before they are ready to start the Cytoxan and ARA-C for two weeks. Although it's tough on everyone to see him at less than 100%, our Hero continues to inspire and march on so keep the prayers and positive thoughts coming! Stay tuned...