Momma Barnes Update, Beard Update.

The following is the latest update e-mail I have written about my mother. I have not started sending it out yet, but it will be out shortly:

Friends and Family,

I want to thank you for the complete outpouring of love, support and prayer our family has received since my last e-mail. The response has been absolutely incredible. People in our lives have continuously inquired as to how my mother is doing and I have been e-mailed and received comments from people so far from my direct contacts that I can't quite figure out how they even received my first e-mail. Please continue to ask us about Mom and how you can help out, as I think in the coming weeks our needs will become clearer.

Immediately after my first update, our plans started to get modified. While the population of leukemia in Mom's blood was low and she was very healthy, her white blood cell count was low as well. The doctors at Johns Hopkins wanted to wait for the white blood cell count to rise before moving on to a bone marrow transplant. Their strategy was to avoid chemotherapy or any other treatment and let Mom's body do the work. The doctors could not predict how long this would take, so we were asked once again to wait. In the meantime, Mom was to get weekly blood work done and we would be contacted when a time table became clear.

Nearly two weeks ago, we received a call from our main doctor at Johns Hopkins. He expressed concern over what was going on in Mom's body. Along with seeing more cancer in her blood, her glands were also extremely swollen, causing her discomfort. For this reason, he ordered a PET scan so that he could get a clearer picture of where the cancer was in Mom's body. We went down to Johns Hopkins for the PET scan last Thursday. While Mom was having her PET scan done, her doctor came in briefly to talk to her and told her he would be getting back to her with a clearer plan of action in the following days.

In the meantime, the whole family headed down to Richmond for my brother Jason’s wedding. We had an incredible weekend in Richmond with many friends and family. The ceremony was incredible, as was the reception. There was an immense amount of joy shared by both families and all our guests. The bride and groom are very much in love and are the picture of what a new marriage should be.

Earlier this week, we got a call from our doctor at Johns Hopkins who was armed with a new game plan. Due to some changes in Mom’s blood work, he finds it necessary to give her one treatment of chemo along with a series of a monoclonal antibody before her transplant. Yesterday she received the chemo, today and each of the following six weeks she will receive one treatment of the monoclonal antibody. At the end of this time, the doctors expect a thirty to forty-five day waiting period, after which time she will have her bone marrow transplant. This means that the likely date for the transplant will be late March or early April.

As always, these plans are subject to change, but this is what we are now expecting. Dad was looking into housing for the recovery time while in Baltimore yesterday and I’m sure there will be more details that we can get started on. In the meantime, I would ask that everyone reading this keep the family in their thoughts and prayers as this process goes on. Thanks so much for your concern and I will update again as soon as it is necessary.

In His Love,

Clint, Jr.

Light Hearted Bonus: Beard Update

Remember, remember, the 5th of November
The Gunpowder Treason and plot ;
I know of no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.

Adelante!

-Clint