{"id":2660,"date":"2012-04-08T09:20:50","date_gmt":"2012-04-08T14:20:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/?p=2660"},"modified":"2012-04-28T13:35:39","modified_gmt":"2012-04-28T18:35:39","slug":"keeping-the-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/?p=2660","title":{"rendered":"Keeping the Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong>
\nJohnny Otis<\/strong> <\/strong>
\n <\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Listen\/Download Johnny Otis Show – Keep the Faith Pt1 <\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/del><\/p>\n

Listen\/Download Johnny Otis Show – Keep the Faith Pt2 <\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/del><\/p>\n

Greetings all.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to get the week started with an update of the medical situation here at the Funky16Corners<\/strong> compound.<\/p>\n

I do so not only because many of you have sent along your prayers and good wishes for my wife\u2019s health, but also because the next steps we take will likely effect the weekly workings of the blog*.<\/p>\n

Back just before last Halloween my wife was diagnosed with leukemia.<\/p>\n

It was, and has been for the last 5+ months been a rather harrowing roller coaster ride for the whole family, but especially Jen.<\/strong><\/p>\n

She has been facing cancer with a remarkable amount of courage.<\/p>\n

The next few months will see us moving on to the next, crucial stage in her treatment, a stem cell transplant.<\/p>\n

This is not only time consuming (in the hospital for nearly a month and then a few months of frequent outpatient visits) but \u2013 as you might imagine \u2013 a very serious medical process.<\/p>\n

We have been extraordinarily lucky that Jen was able to find a stem cell\/bone marrow match in a fairly short period of time, unusual because she doesn\u2019t have any siblings (the first place they generally look to for a transplant).<\/p>\n

Jen will be getting her transplant from an unrelated donor.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The donor pool needs to grow so that when people are in need of transplants the doctors have a large and diverse field of samples in which to find a match.<\/p>\n

Getting tested for inclusion in the pool is short and painless process.<\/p>\n

The bigger (and more diverse) the donor pool is, the greater the likelihood that someone else will be able to find a match and survive leukemia.<\/p>\n