This month has been something else.  We found out my husband's father has leukemia.  It was pretty shocking news, to say the least.  That is never news anyone wants to get.  Since then, we've been juggling our regularly scheduled life chores with hospital visits and such.  Thankfully, we don't live far away and can visit throughout the week.

On August 3rd, Mr. Diva's dad (let's call him Mr. J) went to the ER thinking he might have heart attack symptoms.  After an EKG and blood tests, they thought it was a problem with his spleen.  The hospital kept him overnight to monitor his heart and transferred him to a bigger hospital Thursday morning for more blood work.  His blood platelet count was 16,000 at that time.  (It should normally be above 100,000)  He was to stay at the hospital while they narrowed down what was wrong with him because if he bumped his head and got a hemorrhage, he could die.

Because of the spleen not generating enough platelets, they took a bone marrow test.  When the results came back, it was acute leukemia.  Mr. J started chemo on Saturday (August 6th) and was on it for a week.  He had been growing his hair out to donate it to Locks of Love, so we had to cut it short and send it in before it started to fall out.

He's had various issues like a painful throat (humidifiers, lozenges, throat spray, and mints helped), fevers, retaining fluids, etc.  But he continues to go for walks around the hospital wing, or even outside when he can.  He has to wear a face mask because of his immune system. 

Last week, the results from the post-chemo bone marrow test came back and 60% of the leukemia cells were killed off!  He immediately started back on chemo that night...which brings us to the present.  He's been on his second round of chemo for five days now (he gets his last bag tonight).  It will be another couple of weeks before they do another bone marrow test to check the new results.

I remain in awe of Mr. J, Mrs. J, and Mr. Diva's positive attitudes in the face of this great adversity.  They have kept their smiles and senses of humor, though I know it hasn't always been easy.  We take it all a day at a time and visit Mr. J as often as possible.

Please keep Mr. J in your thoughts and send positive energy his way!  Thank you!



I will do my best to catch up on all the posts I have planned for the blog, but I wanted all you readers to know why I have been MIA.