Medical Update

We saw the surgeon for a follow up on Friday and all the news was good. Dr. Trocha removed the stitches in Steve's backside, which has alleviated a lot of the pressure he'd been feeling. That's making it a lot easier to sit. It was, however, pretty painful for Steve - especially that last stitch that was pretty deep and took several efforts (and a second set of bigger snippers!) to accomplish.

The remaining steri strips were removed and we got a good look at the incision. I was shocked! Shocked at how good it looked. Honestly, it has healed beautifully and after only four weeks, you can barely see it. Amazing.

We've both had trouble sleeping lately, so Dr. Trocha gave us a prescription - both of us - for meds, which are helping. You can't underestimate the value of a good night's sleep - or the negative effect of not getting one.

Steve got the OK to drive and to do more exercising, incuding some more lifting. Exercise is going to be critical to him putting on some weight. As you see in this photo - taken Saturday - he's a little thin. He's down to about 132 lbs and even though he's eating fairly well, his metabolism is so high that he just can't put on any weight. The only thing that's going to bulk him up is muscle mass. Fortunately - again - it's always been easy for him to buff up once he commits to it.

A new round of chemo begins on Wednesday. I'll update the blog Wednesday night with info on how that goes. I hope it will not be too tough on him. He's been through so much already.

This is one more step down the last leg of our journey. It is amazing to me the impact cancer has on your life. Since his diagnosis, it has become the single, central gear around which our lives revolved. It's almost as if weverything else in our lives stopped and only the cancer moved -- first advancing, then retreating, but always there. It has seemed at times that this has gone on for years. And at other times, I am amazed how quickly time has flown.

Nonetheless, I will be happy to see 2007 slip away. With it will go the cancer, the surgeries, the weakness, the sleeplessness and the fear. Life will be changed, but life will go on. That is something to be very thankful for -- whatever the road we had to travel to get here.