Disneyland Dad

Dear Friends, Family, and Fans of Judd,

This is Frankie, back in the saddle at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. It's either been seconds or a lifetime since I was last out here--time both flew and blew--but things haven't really changed all that much. The staff here at the Huntsman is still gifted and professional, Judd is still the koopa-troopa we all know and love, and the Salt Lake Valley is still gorgeous. However, I feel a little bit like a Disneyland Dad. The couple of days before I arrived were pretty tough for Judd and the caretakers that were here with him (nothing too dangerous, just a lot of nausea, anxiety, and discomfort). But when I left, Judd was all smiles. And now that I'm back, Judd's on the up and up. Although my ego would like me to believe it's just my winning personality, I have to admit that in the end I just have really good timing... or really bad timing, depending on your point-of-view. But enough about me, onto the boy this site is named after.

The good news is that the doctors are starting to throw around a fancy little word that brings both grins and nerves to all of us who've been here taking care of Judd: "out-patient." The fact is that Judd's body is taking care of business in very real and impressive ways. Blood cell counts are the hard numbers that the doctors look for in order to gauge when a patient is ready to leave. Judd's numbers suggest immediate first class passage. Over the next few days Judd and his team will be working out the details of the next few weeks of his life. Stay tuned for an updated address and pictures of a new HGTV-inspired room.

The only other tidbit I feel obliged to mention is the festive luau Judd's friends and family organized for him last night at the hospital. Tom and Laurie (Judd's godparents) catered a meal none of us will soon forget: chicken in a cherry/sherry marinade, wild rice with onions, corn salsa, French bread, and gooey chocolate brownies that made their way from the dinner table into my last night's dreams. The meal was topped off by Cokes in "special" plastic cups complete with little umbrellas. For decor, we had 36 multicolored lais (all of which Judd's niece Ashley confiscated to complement her outfit), a coconut-rendered ape-woman sculpture in a grass skirt, and two cardboard cut-outs of well-bronzed, well-built, dancing Hawaiian men whom James and I thought looked rather like an interracial (Nephite-Lamanite) couple. Judd was up, active, and the center of the party. And boy did he eat!

Cheers,
Frankie