CONTROVERSY!

The following screen shot was submitted by Terry S. from Eagan, MN. Our expert team of forensic scientists and computer nerds are still working on determining the validity of this entry. As soon as we know more, we will be back in touch.

And the winner is...um...the winners are?

Oops! Apparently due to hanging chads, we had multiple emails last night claiming to be our next president. A full scale investigating into these matters will commence immediately and your winner(s) will be announced shortly. Thank you for your patience.

Cutting the Proverbial Umbilical Cord

Jo saw Dr. Alvarez today and she received big, big, biggity big news. She doesn't have to see him again for 2 months! She'll still pop by to get her blood drawn every 3 weeks or so, but that's no more inconvenient than a quick trip through the drive thru for McNuggets and a Milk. What more can I say? I think this chapter is officially closed.

Stay tuned for previews of next week's show!

We Need a New President...

No, this is not a political commentary. Within the next few months, we will appoint a new President of the Jo Thompson Fan Club. There are no duties involved and I doubt if the title will get you a discount on coffee at Denny's. However, there will be a nice prize package.

Our new president will get his or her picture posted on the blog. If the winner lives in the Denver area or wants to come to the Denver area, we will have you to our house for brunch at which time we will have a small inauguration ceremony. The new President will also receive one free hour of dance instruction with Jo. With no duties to be performed, that's not a bad deal.

So, how will our new President be chosen? At the bottom of this blog, we keep track of the number of visitors to our site - currently a little over 96,000. To be selected as our new President, all you have to do is be visitor number 100,000 - and you have to have physical proof. Take a screen shot showing the 100,000. If you don't know how to take a screen shot, take a digital photo. Send the picture to tim-and-jo@comcast.net. Once the authenticity of your picture is validated, we will contact you to get a picture for the press release.

Jo is doing incredible. The amount of PNH in her blood is less than it was last year. This could mean nothing or it could mean that her body is going to correct the situation over time. Only time will tell.

Jo is in Indianapolis this weekend at John Robinson's line dance event. People that see her dance absolutely cannot believe she had all those surgeries. In the next 5 weeks, we have 3 of our biggest dance events here in Colorado and Jo will be a major participant in all three. Next weekend is the Colorado Country Classic and then in July we have Pikes Peak Line Dance or Bust and Swingtime in the Rockies.

Colorado Country Classic

Pikes Peak Line Dance or Bust

Swingtime in the Rockies

Anna turned 4 earlier this week. She got a bicycle for her birthday and riding her bicycle is consuming her life.

Back from the NIH

Jo and I had a short, but successful trip to the NIH. I had time to make a couple of new friends in the clinic as we joked around about their upcoming un-sedated bone marrow biopsies. Ralph - you're a better man than I!!!

I had hoped to meet the coach of Olympic Swimmer, Dara Torres. He did have an appointment on the same day we were there, but our meeting was thwarted by the swine flu. When we arrived, Jo was asked if she had any cold symptoms. She said she had the sniffles. They immediately whisked us off into isolation. I guess you can't be too careful in a room full of people with somewhat compromised immune systems.

Really, there is nothing much to report. We will go back again each of the next two years and then we can cut back to every other year.

On a more interesting note, this weekend I attended a small gathering of Colorado PNH patients at Swedish Hospital. Jo was out of town teaching dance in Sacramento and she could not attend. The event was put on by a local hematologiest and cosponsored by the company that manufactures Soliris, the $480,000 drug used to treat PNH. I left my credit card at home.

I met 3 other people that have PNH and they are all using Soliris. I got to talk to two of the three for quite a while and they were both having significant difficulties caused by PNH and Soliris has been a tremendous help. One of the men has been on Soliris for 2 years and it is still working great. The other guy started to regress after being on the drug for 18 months. Unfortunately, I had to leave early before we got into the discussion of how to pay for it.

Jo's PNH does need to be monitored, but it is not disrupting her life. For now, we are happy that Soliris is available and every month that goes by means another month of real-world experience for the drug. We are excited about this "support group" and we look forward to future meetings. I learned more about PNH in those 2 hours on Saturday than I have in the past 3 years.

Next Up - NIH - 3 Year Checkup

In two weeks, Jo and I head to Washington, D.C. for her 3-year checkup. I had to check the calendar to make sure that was correct. It seems like about 10 years ago. We expect Jo to get great marks. At the same time, Dr. Alvarez has given us about 1000 questions to ask. Jo is doing phenomenal, but her "system" still a handful of little glitches. It's nice to know that Dr. Alvarez is always keeping a pulse on the small stuff, especially since we tend not to think about it at all.

We want to send out a special Thank You to Bullet Dawg. Random acts of kindness really are what make the world a better place. You have inspired us to look for places where we can go out and touch people's lives unexpectedly.

We'll raise up our glasses...

This morning, Anna and I were driving to Anna's school and on the radio, Toby Keith was singing...

We'll raises up our glasses
Against evil forces
Singing, "Whiskey for my men, beer for my horses!"

Jo was in her car driving right next to us and Anna was waving fast and furious. For the first time in 4 years (other than Colorado, New Mexico and Japan), Jo went to the airport to go and teach at a dance event. She will spend the weekend in Atlanta at the Peach State UCWDC event. For many years, Jo was the primary line dance instructor at this event that typcially brings in an extremely high number of line dancers.

It's often difficult to remember, but the past 4 years has, at times, been a bit inconvenient. As Jo drove off this morning, it really rang true that it is time to raise up our glasses and celebrate victory. 2009 has seeemed incredibly "normal".

Jo's counts continue to hold steady at the low end of normal and her shoulder gets better every day. She gets her blood checked every 3 weeks and her visits to Dr. Kelly are fairly rare. Her shoulder isn't quite ready for pull-ups, but pull-ups aren't much fun anyway.

So, if you're out and about this weekend, raise up your glasses and think of Jo. If whiskey is your thing, be my guest. Maybe slip a beer or two into your neighbor's dog dish. As for Anna, she'll probably go with a cold milk in a tall pink sippy cup.

Where in the World Should Jo Go?

Jo's shoulder is coming along fantastically! Last week, our good friend Wendy Moy was at our house. She had shoulder surgery back in August. Wendy and Jo were both on the floor practicing their physical therapy stretches. Pretty soon, Anna was on the floor also stretching her arm over her head. If I could have only gotten a picture!

Jo saw Dr. Kelly last week and everything looks great. Dr. Kelly asked Jo to come back in 3 months. THREE MONTHS??? Talk about separation anxiety! Dr. Alvarez sightings have also become much less frequent.

Since Jo is on the mend, she and I have talked about her possibly travelling to a few dance events in the next 12 months, but where should she go? We need your help. If you want to see Jo at an event in the next 12 months (or so) please let us know where you would like to see her. You can post your desires here on the blog or send us an email.

By the way...if you are a member of the "I hope Tim gets hit by a bus" fan club, your votes will not be counted.