Saturday, January 20 - and all is well!

Hello fellow blog readers,

This is Jennifer writing the post for Dad and Eileen today. Both are doing just great. Even though the anti-biotics were supposedly not very useful against the bug in the knee, Dad continues to notice improvement. They got out for a walk around the hospital today -as in out in the sunshine! Other good news: Dad's white cell count made a huge leap today, up to 8000. The proportion of neutrophils is not quite as high as it should be yet, but this is to be expected since the leap was so big. The overall picture is very encouraging!

Dad slept a lot today - and read the rest of the time. Eileen is matching him book for book, but they plan to pray the rosary around 8:00 before reading for the rest of the evening. Oncologist O'Rourke will be in on Monday, and at that point they'll learn more about the plan for this course of anti-biotics - and how long it might be before they go home.

Both Dad and E continue to be positive. Eileen asked me specifically to mention that they are aware of (and grateful) for your prayers and well wishes. She also asked me to remind everyone of something that I saw personally when I was down for a visit in October: Dad may have a sore knee, and he may get itchy sometimes, and he might feel a little chilly now and then - but taken as a whole, we are the LUCKY ones at St. Francis. There are many families that would dearly love to have these kinds of problems on Floor Five of the Winter Palace. We are deeply grateful for Dad's daily improvement - and all of the friends, neighbors, and well wishers that log on every day to show support for our dear Dad.

Dad and E back at the keyboard tomorrow!

Jennifer