I am sitting at Jim's bedside holding his hand and watching him sleep peacefully. He just received some pain medicine to relax him before he goes down to have his PEG tube put in his stomach. They will give him twilight for the procedure and he should have a restful evening. Dr. Mehta came by to show us some reports on Jim's progress in graph form on the computer. The first one was of the liver function, which shows that the bilirubin has plateaued and is coming down slightly...a good trend, but still has a ways to go. The other is the measurement of the Myeloma level or the Kappa light chain. This number has gone down rapidly since the transplant and shows us the the cells are taking very well. Dr. feels that once the tube is in place, Jim will start to gain strength and the numbers for the liver will improve with regular doses of medication. Over the last week Jim has at times refused to take certain medications as he is not always in the right frame of mind. We all hope and pray that this will be the answer to getting Jim's body to heal and to receive nourishment.

Jim has not spoken much this week, however, when the chaplain came in today and asked if we could pray he said in a strong voice "Yes". When asked if he would like Father Tom from Holy Name Cathedral to come back and visit...again "Yes". It is so obvious that he wants and needs the Lord by his side. I find great comfort in his resounding "Yes"!

Please know how much I appreciate every card, email, all the help and support with the kids, etc...I rarely have time to let you each know personally how much it means. Every night I climb in bed and reflect on how amazed I am to see so much support and kindness. Everything you do is what is keeping me going and I Thank You!

God Bless