First Grade

Kaylee started first grade this week. She was so excited. Last year she rode the bus to school on the first day and I went to the school to make sure she got to where she needed to be. This year, I had school, so I couldn't go to her school. I was so worried that she would get lost (I knew she wouldn't, because she is very independent), she actually told me not to worry about it, that she would do just fine without me. (I am having a hard time knowing that she doesn't need me anymore---she is growing up too fast!) She did just fine. She made it to school and made it home. What else can you ask for? She is going to have a great school year. She has a great teacher and great friends!

Another treatment down

Jon had his third chemo treatment today of six, he is over halfway done. The chemo went really well today. He has been feeling a little bit better than his last treatment, but is still a little nauseous and quite light headed. His blood counts are still only around a 9, so he still has absolutely no energy. He physically can't do very much at all. In fact, I wont let him do very much. I don't want him to burn out, so I am making him take it very easy. It has been hard that he is not capable of doing the things he did before. Jon is an amazing guy, he is a rock climber, mountain biker, scuba diver, snow boarder, and hunter. As of now, he can't do any of those activities. It is hard for him. Jon is also very handy, he has always been able to fix anything and work on anything. He was a mechanic, so he knows cars well. He hasn't been able to do the repairs on our vehicles that I know he wants to do so badly (like an oil change and such). It is hard for Jon not to be able to do these things right now, but he is determined to get better so he can do the things he loves and enjoys once again. It will be a while, but Jon is awesome and strong. He can do anything he puts his mind to. My job right now is to make sure he ISN'T doing those things. I want him better more than anyone else! I can promise you that! We finally got our car back yesterday, after almost two months, just in time for school to start. Our blessings are definitely still flowing. As promised (I know.... forever ago) here is a picture of his shaved head. He is looking pretty good, don't ya'll think so?

Appointments

Jon had two appointments this week. One was with Dr. Stinnett, the other with Dr. McDonald.
Dr. Stinnett just wanted to follow up on the chemo to see how Jon responded to it. Jon did very well with the chemo. His white and red blood cells were both very low at his appointment. That is normal for chemo. The counts go up and down. Other than the low blood count, everything looked good. The doc just said because of the low blood counts he is more susceptible to catching illness so if he got a fever we would need to call immediately. Jon woke up early this morning saying his whole body was hurting. So I took his temperature, it was 99.7 which is a little high. Since it was so early I told him to take a tylenol, to see if that helped anything. His temperature went down and didn't come back up. I talked to Dr. Stinnetts nurse and she said it was nothing to worry about especially since it went back down and that it wasn't above 100.4. So hopefully it was just a minor thing that wont come back. The next chemo will be in two weeks.

The appointment with Dr. McDonald also went well. His kidney function is still not normal, but is way better. His protein levels were extremely high before, but have gone down a ton, so that's good news. The swelling is also way down, almost non-existent. Jon has lost 40 pounds since he has been out of the hospital. None of his clothes fit him, they all keep falling off. Also, the lupus had caused a lot of his hair to fall out, he wasn't bald or anything but very thin up top, I went to take a test last week and when I got home he had shaved his whole head. I should take a picture, I will do that.... sometime.

Some more good news is that I finished up summer semester! I even got good grades in my classes. I was taking 15 credits over the summer so I am very proud of myself. I'm not trying to brag or anything, I am just so happy to be done and finally on summer break, for two whole weeks! Then back to school....

We still appreciate everyone and the support they have given us. It feels really good to be getting back to a semi-normal life.