8-11-06

Dear Family and Friends,

Praise to the Lord! We have finished up the second round of chemo and have been truly blessed by the results thus far. Though Matt will not have any type of official scans until after his third treatment, the doctor said he is breathing well and he looks good:) He did undergo a chest x-ray before the 2nd treatment which revealed the fact that his previous surgery and pleurodesis was a success and he didn't have any other fluid build up in his lung. As for his overall health going into this second treatment, all of his blood work came back either average or above normal. His white blood cell count was actually above normal (which is helpful in fending on illnesses). As he weighed in for his vitals, he gained an incredible amount of weight (I'll let you guess and will put the answer at the bottom of the email:) ), and we are very thankful for our very own homemade ice cream we receive weekly from the girls at the Casa Sacra Couri where I used to live. Their newest invention is Chocotherapy which is a very rich chocolate ice cream (made to accompany chemotherapy).

Thankfully the actual treatment went very well and a little quicker this time. Matt still had a slight allergic reaction, but since we were aware of the possibility, we were able to ask the nurse to slow it down much quicker. His nausea improved and his nose bleeds have decreased ever since Dr. Smith gave us the tip of sticking Vaseline up your nose to keep it moist (eeek!) We've kept up the exercise routine, and got back on schedule yesterday, after a few days of weakness. Matt is still the tennis champ and still keeps me on my toes.

Thank you all for your continued prayers, we are thankful each day for the gift of life we have to share with each other and with others- we are truly blessed!

We have posted a few of Matt's new hair do pictures on the website- I think he has a nice head:) He likes being intimidating:) ( http://familycoles.googlepages.com) Peace to you all, May the blessings of Christ surround you! And the grand total of weight gain in 3 weeks is....17 pounds!

Peace through the love of the Sacred Hearts,
Matt and Lucy