Treatment Begins

We thought you would enjoy some pictures of John in the hospital. Here he is doing two of his favorite activities, listening to music on his ipod and exchanging emails with all of you.

We have had some great news since we last posted.

John was administered his first round of chemotherapy last night. We were worried about how he would take it, but he seems to have handled it very well. Initial reports from the hematology group show that even with just this initial dose of medication, there are signs the tumor is already breaking up, which is very encouraging.

Our other piece of good news is that John will finally be moving out of ICU to his own room on the oncology floor. This is very exciting for John as it means he will have his own space to move around, including a play room to visit. We will get to fill his space with some special things from home, and decorate his walls with all the notes, posters, pictures and cards that you all have so thoughtfully sent. This is also great news for our family because we can finally bring Jimmy and Caroline to the hospital to see their little brother. This will be a very special reunion for all of us and we are so grateful for it.

In closing, we wanted to share one funny story to show that John's sense of humor has remained intact throughout his hospital stay. One of the medications he's been given has a side effect that turns his urine red. The nurses were concerned this might seem scary to him, but his only complaint was that it was a Stanford color. He wanted to know if it would be possible to switch to something which turns his urine blue. A true Cal fan.

We continue to be overwhelmed by your love and support and will be in touch soon with more news.