Dear Family,

My dad hasn't been doing well for the past week or so. He has lost 10 lbs and has also lost his appetite and taste. Within the past month he has had 5 teeth pulled and needed another two root canals. The leukemia medication has caused his teeth to become very weak and they break easily. His mouth has been full of blood for the past few weeks. He also had a lesion taken off of his face that was found malignant but the dermatologist was sure that he got it all out. Today he went to his bi-monthly doctors appointment at the cancer institute and had a blood test only to find that his cancer is back. He will be going to St. Marks tomorrow afternoon for a blood transfusion because his platelets are very low again. There is not much they can do for him at this point. They will be taking him off all of his medications except for pain medications. There is also a medication that they can give him to prolong his life but Robert said that there are adverse side effects that may not be worth it to dad. Robert has a call in to dad's oncologist and he will call us to let us know what our options are. They have told us that he only has weeks left, he wants to continue to fight and do all that he can.

I told him tonight that I need him and he laughed and said "I need me too." Earl gave him a beautiful blessing tonight and we all had a good cry. He doesn't have a lot of energy lately but I know he appreciates reading your comments. He loves us all so much. Please keep him in your prayers. We may have more info tomorrow. I will email again after I talk to Robert.

I love and appreciate you all so much!

Love, Karen