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.

Merry Christmas!

‘Twas the night before Christmas and although it was late
I made time to watch CNBC’s “Review of ‘08”

Merrill and Lehman, Bear Stearns and more
How did we survive this financial downpour?

Even at Church, mention was made
These trying financial times have everyone afraid.

Please remember it’s all in your head
If you look another direction, green might appear red.

To these financial problems, our family isn’t immune
But Jo’s health has us singing a very different tune.

For the first time in four very long years
The outlook for Jo’s health may bring you to tears.

The surgeries are finished and her blood counts look great
We’ll never forget the Christmas of ’08.

So, if your 401(k) has you feeling kind of down
Go to the nearest hospital and just look around.

I know it’s hard to lose what you’ve worked for so long
But you can’t take it with you after you’re gone.

Now, I’m not saying you should give up on your dreams
Many games are won by underdog teams.

We all face setbacks in this game we call life
And the most important lesson of all, I learned from my wife.

No matter what hurdles are thrown in your way
You can still choose to have an extraordinary day.

If you do this each and every day of your years
An extraordinary life is what eventually appears.

From our family to yours, may 2009 be out of sight
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Record Counts

Jo showed me her blood counts last night and I immediately assumed foul play. Platelets at 232,000 and white blood cells at 6.2. This had to be a hoax. Dr. Alvarez had hoped Jo's white blood cells would get to 4 before her most recent surgery. Jo's platelets haven't been over 200,000 in 4 years!

Jo swears the results have not been "doctored", but would Dr. Alvarez agree? Indeed these are truly miraculous numbers. They are also totally unexpected only 10 days after major surgery.

The only thing in our lives that has changed recently is the bone-chilling cold temperatures in the Denver area. Is it possible these freezing cold days have caused Jo's increased blood counts? If so, would it be beneficial to move to Alaska? Is there an igloo in our future? Stay tuned.

Anna's Tub-Side Manner

Jo stopped her pain medication today and switched over to Tylenol. The incision looks to be about the same size as the incision was on her left arm for anybody who has seen that - probably a good 6 inches.

The third day after surgery is always a big deal because Jo gets to take a bath or a shower. After supper on Monday night, I said to Anna, "Let's go and help Momma with her tubby." Well, Anna completely latched on to that idea. She ran to get a few toys for Momma and a bucket for pouring water over Momma's head. Anna washed Momma's hair and carefully rinsed her incision. When Jo's tubby was finished Anna said to her, "Even after you're better, we can still help you with your tubby."

Anna helped Jo with a tubby again tonight. This time, when the tubby was finished Anna said, "Okay, now you can play for five minutes."

The Home Stretch?

Jo came home from the hospital today and she is doing well. She's taking some hefty pain medication and she slept much of today. There is just something about this time that seems final. When we left the hospital today, it felt more like "goodbye" than "see you next time". P/SL has been great, but if we never go back there, I won't miss the hot dogs, the pizza or onion rings.

Last night I gave Jo a tour of the entire hospital from my perspective. In 8 trips, she had never seen the cafeteria, the gift shop or the surgery waiting area where all the furniture had been replaced since visit #7. We even tried to sneak a peak at the newborns on floor 3 and we were pleasantly surprised to find volunteers handing out bowls of clam chowder.

All things must come to an end. P/SL will still be near and dear to our hearts for the next 6 to 8 months as the last medical bills get straightened out and reconciled, but we are headed down the home stretch. Our two-year "partnership" with P/SL has been necessary and extremely beneficial. We will never be able to say "thank you" enough. At the same time, it's time for us to move on.

Eight is Enough

I know, I know. This was probably the most predictable title I have ever used. It just seems appropriate.

We got home from Japan on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning Jo went to see Dr. Alvarez to get the okay to head into surgery. Jo's platelets had dropped below 100,000 and her white blood cells had dropped to an unacceptable level for surgery. 9 and 12 hour plane flights definitely take a toll on the body and this will be something I will run past the NIH doctors when we see them this spring.

On our way to the hospital today, we stopped to get Jo's blood checked again and her white cells had come up to 3.8. Dr. Alvarez had wanted them to get above 4, but Dr. Kelly felt that 3.8 was good enough. At 1:45pm, Jo went into the operating room for her 8th surgery in less than 25 months. Dr. Kelly said that everything went perfectly and she expects a total success.

Jo's ball joint in her right shoulder had collapsed - think of taking your thumb and making a dent in a Styrofoam ball. Dr. Kelly scraped out the area of collapsed bone and replaced it with a metal "button". This button is a piece of metal that can be expanded to be the exact size of the area Dr. Kelly created and that small section of shoulder bone is essentially resurfaced. The end result is the shoulder bone once again having the proper shape to move normally in the socket.

Jo is expected to come home tomorrow around noon. She will have help from my mom for the next two weeks and then her mom until mid-January. By then we expect Jo to be completely pain free with somewhere close to 95% or more range of motion in all of her joints.

Two years ago, I remember sitting in Dr. Kelly's office and she told us not to think too far into the future. She said, "The reality is I could schedule you for 2 full years of surgery." At the time I didn't believe her. I believe her her now.

A Quick Trip to Japan and Now Back to Business

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, Jo and I travelled to Nagoya, Japan for the 15th annual Crazy County Dance Festival. Martha Ogasawara and the Nagoya C/W Dance Fans first brought us to Japan 11 years ago and this was now our 4th trip to teach dance in Japan. We had an absolutely fabulous time and we can't thank our Japanese friends enough for their never-ending hospitality. The entire weekend was first class!

We were joined in Japan by Scott Blevins from Chicago. He was the first American guest instructor 12 years ago at Nagoya's 3rd event. Scott and Jo have known each other for many years through the dance world and they are often considered mirror images of each other in terms of their wonderful choreography and technique.

On Friday, Jo heads back to the operating room at Presbyterian/St. Luke's Hospital for a pretty major surgery on her right shoulder. I'll explain the details of the repair on Friday. For now, just realize that she cannot lift her arm above her head, she cannot put it behind her back and she can barely reach across the front of her body.

For those of you who know Jo well, it's impossible to keep her down and the following video demonstrates that. Jo is dancing a beautiful new dance called "Feel", choreographed by Scott Blevins who is dancing alongside Jo. Keep in mind that this is all done with less than 50% range of motion in Jo's right arm. (No trick photography was used in the making of this video.)

Happy Veteran's Day!

There is something special about College Football just about anywhere you live, but the Service Academies are a truly unique experience. Before this weekend's game, an F-15 and two F-22s flew over the stadium. Each of the three planes turned on their afterburners directly over the stadium and zoomed straight up into the sky. The entire stadium shook and the crowd went absolutely wild. I was holding Anna and she was so scared she tried to dive to the ground. I was pretty spooked myself and I really have no idea how I held on to her.

We are less than a month from surgery #8. The date has been set for December 5th, but just in case of any last minute changes I have purchased an S-CDS (Surgery Change Date Swap). It's very similary to a Credit Default Swap except that it insures me against any financial losses incurred should the surgery date have to be moved. I learned this technique by studying the business practices of AIG. I'm not quite at $62 Trillion, but I'm on my way.

In case you are wondering what Anna was for Halloween...


I had to chase Prince Charming off with a baseball bat.

Combating the Rising Cost of Healthcare

I cannot be sure that either of the Presidential candidates will come up with a reasonable solution to the rising cost of healthcare. For that reason, we have taken matters into our own hands. At just 4 months past her 3rd birthday Anna has started her medical training. How old was Doogie Howser when he got his MD?

Dr. Kelly - Did you miss us?

After a nice hiatus away from the operating room, Jo is back on Dr. Kelly's schedule. She will have surgery on her right shoulder on Friday, December 5th. Jo's left shoulder feels tremendous. The bone graft that was implanted into her left shoulder has been an incredible success.

As Jo's left shoulder has gotten better and better, her right shoulder has started to deteriorate. About 45 days ago, she had shooting pains in her right shoulder for about 3 days. Dr. Kelly took some x-rays, but couldn't find anything. About 3 weeks ago, Jo started to have trouble with her range of motion. As of this morning, she can get her arm over her head, but it is not pretty.

Last week a CT Scan (or maybe it was an MRI) confirmed that Jo's shoulder has started to collapse and it is cracked. My first thought was that it is time for another bone graft just like the left shoulder. Unfortunately, the body does not take well to a second graft. Somehow, the body knows about the first graft and tends to reject follow-on grafts.

Dr. Kelly will be going into Jo's shoulder and again "cleaning out" any pockets of necrosis. Then she will install a "button" on Jo's shoulder bone that is supposed to prevent further collapse and give her back her range of motion. I'll have to find out the technical name for this surgery and get back to you on that.

For the next 70 days or so, we will baby that shoulder and try to prevent any further collapse. There is good news...nothing else hurts and Jo only goes to get her blood checked every two weeks.

Aplastic Anemia Hits the Olympic Swimming Pool

This past weekend, Jo and I were able to catch a bit of the Olympics on television. Did you see Michael Phelps win one of his races by 1/100th of a second? Did you see Dara Torres lose her race by 1/100th of a second? Unbelievable!

Just before Torres' race, the announcer mentioned that her coach was not able to be with her. He was in a hospital bed in Bethesda, MD being treated for a life-threatening blood disorder. I couldn't believe my ears. I ran to the computer and typed "Dara Torres Coach" into Google. Sure enough. In late July, he was diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia at the age of 58.

"It's really, really bad," Lohberg said by phone to the Miami Herald late Thursday. "They told me I might last only weeks, or maybe even days. It's bad. I knew something was wrong because I was very tired and out of breath, but I thought it was from my herniated disk and all the stress. Turns out it's a disaster. I have nothing left in my blood, and I have to get to the specialists by 8 a.m. Friday because without treatment, I might not make it to Monday."

Three days later Lohberg was interviewed from the NIH and it sounded like Dr. Young, Dr. Scheinberg, Dr. Childs, Dr. Sloand or Olga had helped him understand that yes it's bad, but the NIH is really, really good at what they do. I was able to find his blog and as of today, he is still at the NIH recovering from his ATG treatment.

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Jo saw Dr. Kelly last week for a quick shoulder checkup. Jo's left shoulder is doing awesome and she says it feels great. Dr. Kelly says the bone graft is healing perfectly and she considers the surgery a 100% success.

Jo's right shoulder is still a bit of a problem. Dr. Kelly says the bones actually look very good, so it may soon be time to get the arthroscopic guy to take another look. I think the real problem is that the left shoulder feels so good that Jo is constantly reminded that the right shoulder is still not quite right.

Living Passionately

A Zen poet said, “A person who is a master in the art of living makes little distinction between their work and their play, their labor and their leisure, their mind and their body, their education and their recreation, their love and their religion. They hardly know which is which and simply pursue their vision of excellence and grace, whatever they do, leaving others to decide whether they are working or playing. To them they are always doing both."

At Church last Sunday, the congregation was treated to a special musical performance by a group called Selah. They were phenomenal, but what really touched me was the passion displayed by the pianist. Every note he played seemed as if it were the most important note ever played on a piano. His body language told the story of the music in such an incredible way that even the deaf would have “heard” the music.

I started taking dance lessons over 15 years ago and I remember an early teacher telling me that my goal was to dance in such a way that somebody who couldn’t hear the music would still know exactly what the music sounded like. I must admit, this is still tough for me to accomplish today.

When I met Jo almost 14 years ago I was introduced to a level of “passion” I had not experienced before. I specifically remember watching Jo line dance to Scooter Lee’s Honky Tonk Twist. I was absolutely shocked how clearly her movement told the entire story of the song.

Of course, Jo is in the entertainment business and all entertainers (to some extent) try to bring this level of passion to their performance. The difference is that Jo doesn’t have to “bring” anything to her performance. It’s her natural way of being. How do I know this? Because I see that same level of incredible passion in her everyday life.

I’ve been asked many times over the years, “What’s Jo like when she isn’t ‘on’”? If you’ve had the pleasure of spending time with her outside of her professional career, you know what I know. There is no “off”. She has an incredible way of bringing intense passion to practically every moment of every day. I’ve seen her do this when she’s planning a baby shower, when she’s making greeting cards, when she and Anna are planting flowers or when she’s decorating the house. It seems like every single day she sees an opportunity to take an ordinary experience and make it extraordinary.

About 5 years ago I saw a wonderful presentation by a man named Charlie “Tremendous” Jones. All professional speakers bring passion to their presentations, but this man was different. This man’s passion cut straight through to my core. I saw Tremendous Jones in the hallway later that day and before I even introduced myself, I was drawn into him and I gave him a big hug. It was like he had some sort of magnetic pull like a black hole drawing people into him.

I know some of you have spent time with Jo away from the dance floor and you know that her passion for life creates this same sort of magnetic pull no matter what she’s doing. I still don’t comprehend exactly how she does it, but I sure am glad I caved in and agreed to take a line dance lesson back in the spring of 1993. I could have never guessed the path that would lead to just a little over a year later.

Goodbye 2, Hello 3

Anna turned 3 today. Can you believe it? This is Anna's first non-weekend birthday so it was pretty quiet. We put 3 candles in a Blueberry Muffin and sang Happy Birthday. Maybe we'll get a cake for the neighborhood kids this weekend.

Jo's shoulder is recovering nicely. This past weekend it was put to the test at the Rocky Mountain Swing Dance Convention. My spies let me know that Jo actually danced a few songs with a couple of the best guys. They were under specific instructions to only lead moves that didn't require the use of her left arm. Overall, her shoulder held up pretty well.

Jo sees Dr. Kelly next week for a checkup and hopefully she'll be able to start more aggressive physical therapy.