12/11/08

Sent via e-mail from Sonia:
I just got off the phone with Joyce - Julie's mom - and her first arsenic treatment went well. It was supposed to be started yesterday, but they couldn't get her potassium levels up until late evening.
Julie met and talked with other people on her floor today, which will hopefully give her some company when she's lonely...she's expected to be home for Christmas day, but will likely go right back into the hospital the next morning. More importantly, she was encouraged to meet a woman a few doors down who had received the arsenic treatment and had "great success." She relayed a message through a nurse for Julie that it didn't make her feel bad [like chemo is known to do]. That "she felt the same when she went in for treatment, as when she came out." Julie is only the 3rd person in the US to receive this treatment and it's only been done in Atlanta.
They are in such need of our prayers. Joyce is a diabetic who had a double masectomy a couple of years ago after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Katie [13] has a condition called IH [intracranial hypertension] which is like a brain tumor and also suffers from pretty severe acid reflux [and a nervous stomach]. Julie & Joe also have Amber [6] and Ethan [3].
Just Want to give you an update.