Our visit with Dr. Lin went well today. Jon's bloodwork all came back within the normal range and both Dr. Lin and Jon feel that the Xyloda is helpful. It is designed to stabilize Jon's condition and stimulate his appetite so that he can regain his strength. The current plan is to continue the Xyloda and Celebrex every other week for two months then do another scan. We will also see Dr. Reilly (Naturopath) in two weeks two discuss a possible liver flush. Jon continues with weekly massage and acupuncture which improve both his pain level and mental attitude.
His energy and pain levels fluctuate so we have learned to just "go with the flow" on any given day. We will see Dr. Lin every two weeks for the next two months to monitor his progress.

Today was also Kelsey's parent/teacher conference. I continue to be amazed at his improvement in academics, maturity and confidence. He currently has a 4.0 with two International Baccalaureate classes. His teachers said things like "His writing is absolutely beautiful" and "He saved us at FFA districts last night." His IB History teacher said "Kelsey is the single most enthusiastic student I have" and my favorite is when his English teacher asked "Who feels strong today?" and he was the first one to raise his hand and move some heavy items to another classroom. For those of you who have followed Kelsey's journey you can appreciate how much adversity he has overcome and what a huge accomplishment these things are for him. Jon has always been very critical of Kelsey since he's not into things like football or UFC and has never had much appreciation for academics or non-sports activities. Although Jon didn't attend the conference he actually did offer Kelsey praise and congratulations for a job well done. I suppose that's a start.

After dinner Jon actually felt good enough to go to the grocery store for a few things and pick up his own prescriptions. He has become a crazy, ice-cream addict and we shovel as much food in his mouth as he can hold.

All in all it was a pretty good day around here.