Good news from a far country!

Jo got out of the hospital today, came to church and played the piano!!! She was not able to sit up during all of the service, but this is a big improvement considering she has made very few church services since her surgery.  Yesterday she said she had no pain, but that it may be due to all of the lying down.  She looked great!  Had her humor back, as when Preacher was welcoming her back to the piano she said, "Ya all pray for me now cause I haven't had much time to practice."

Thank you all for praying!  I realize this is day by day, and she will continue to have ups and downs, but thank you for praying.

Progress report on Jo

Joanna was taken to the emergency room on Sunday afternoon with extreme diarrhea, continued pain, and nausea.  After being examined, she was admitted to the hospital.  A chest X-ray and CT scan were ordered to determine whether or not there were an infection that was causing her continued fever.  She was hooked up to a heart monitor for the night.  She slept for part of the night but woke up with extreme diarrhea once again.

The results from the CT scan and X-ray are in, and there was not an abscess of any kind, but the report is not good.  The tumors in Joanna's liver have grown substantially.  There is no infection.  The hepatic metastatic disease is markedly progressed since the previous study.  All of the patient's hepatic masses throughout both the right and left lobes have increased in size substantially since the previous study.

Dr. Logston said that her symptoms were partly because of the growth of the tumors in her liver.  The fact that the tumors were substantially larger was not a great concern to him in that her last CT scan was in January, and this is now March.  She has had only her first round of chemotherapy, and the growth of the tumors was to be somewhat expected at this point.  It was simply too early in the process to make any concrete determination.  Perhaps the most significant thing he said was that her liver functions are normal showing that her liver is still functioning properly.  He also said that they would give her something to help with the extreme diarrhea and nausea. JoJo will remain in the hospital for a couple more days.

Of course, your prayers are much appreciated, for Jo and her family, our church family, and my pastor, as well.