How
is she doing?
How
it started | How she is | Baby
Larissa | Jim | Blacky
Thank you for stopping by to check on Joann. We hope that this page is useful and we will try to keep it as up-to-date as possible. Joann's doctors may restrict flowers and fresh fruit because of the danger of infection. Send a card and a prayer, instead. The nurses have requested that all visitors, including AMC staff and Jim, check with the nursing station before entering Joann's room. They are being very protective of her for medical, emotional, and meditative reasons. Joann had a good day on Wednesday. She told Jim early in the morning the she had coughed up a lot of phlegm overnight. Dr. Grund arrived back from vacation, and checked in to see Joann at 8:30. He was very pleased with her progress, and said he could hear air movement in her right lung! Dr. Eglowstein visited later in the morning and heard the same, and was very pleased also. Drs. Ilves and Nakao dropped in later in the day. The fetal monitor strip at 4:30 was uneventful and completed in 20 minutes and 30 seconds. Judy Ives Barba was there for lunch, and Denny Eaton, director on the Info River Valley project, also visited. Jim and Wendy had had a client meeting in Albany, and Wendy drove and came up for a visit when she dropped of Jim at the hospital. Lowell Thing, the father of WWW in the Hudson Valley and whatis.com fame, drove up from Kingston to give Jim a lift home. He has provided a report of his visit, so you can all get some news with a different perspective. Jim forgot the digital camera, so there are no new pictures today. Joann is obviously benefiting from the prayers and positives thoughts you all are sending on her behalf. We appreciate them very much. Joann is not restricted as to visitors, but please check with Jim ahead of time. He asks that you keep visits brief so as not to tire her, and please don't visit if you have a cold or infection, because her white blood cell count is lower from the chemotherapy. She would also enjoy a card or note whenever you find the time. We have a list of interesting things to do and good places to eat around Albany, so that you'll enjoy your trip even more. Click here for a map and directions to the hospital from Exit 23 of the Thruway. Photo gallery from Saturday's visitors and family picnic.
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How she is: As you know by now, Joann is at Albany Medical Center with a large, inoperable, cancerous tumor in her right lung. She is also 27 weeks pregnant. This has greatly complicated her treatment. Her doctors, Stephen H. Grund, MD, PhD, Oncology, and Marla S. Eglowstein, MD, Perinatology, have researched and consulted with colleagues around the country to design a treatment program that has started Joann on a road to recovery and is safe for her baby Larissa. Joann had her first chemotherapy on Wednesday, July 1. Overnight Wednesday/Thursday, her blood oxygen level dropped to 90%,and she began receiving supplemental oxygen early that morning. Now that she is in the Ob-Gyn ward, Larissa will be monitored much more closely. The medical and nursing staff is working very hard to make sure that everyone understands the special issues involved with Joann's condition, and developing contingency plans for every possible situation. Wednesday's dessert was a hot fudge sunday. Jim tried to get it to the room before it melted. Look back at the July 1 edition for more information about the chemotherapy treatment.
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About baby Larissa: Mommy is noticably bigger, and Daddy can feel Larissa bumping the front of Mommy's belly. Actually, Larissa's heartbeat has been so consistently strong that Dr. Eglowstein and the Obstetrics staff decided to reduce the fetal monitoring from once-a-shift to once-a-day. The means Mommy doesn't have to be awakened as many times at night. The doctors have said that Larissa's lungs seem well developed for her age. That's definitely good news. Mommy says that Latissa moves around a lot at 4:00 AM. Supposedly, babies continue the same activity patterns once they are born. Daddy is not so sure that is good news! Mommy and Daddy visited the neonatal nursery on Friday, July 3. Daddy will try to publish some more news about that.
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| What about Jim? He has been working to get the nursery ready, but that means he first has to move the rest of the furniture and hot mitts to the attic. He has made pretty good progress.
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And Blacky? Blacky misses Mommy, but he is being very good about it. So far he has chewed up only one of Aunt Judy's Rubbermaid food containers. Blacky was very confused about the trip to Albany last night, and he didn't like staying in the car. Daddy is not going to try to pull that one again! Blacky is going to spend the weedend at the farm on Spillway Road and will probably have an exhausting time barking at the cats and playing with Lilly.
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| How to reach Joann: She is going to be moving around, so check here for latest information. mail: visiting: phone: How to reach Larissa: How to reach Jim: mail: Ives & Shaughnessy 318 Wall Street, Suite 2A Kingston, NY 12401 visiting: phone:
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