I’m more than overdue for an update to all who have been so generous in praying for me . . . thank you is not enough, but it is most sincere.
People ask me how I’m doing. About 10 days ago I decided it was time to start answering that question within the bounds of what I’m calling "the new normal." That said, here is what I hope will be the last report for some time on how I’m feeling. I want to move on to making the blog a blog, not a health report. I’ve got lots to write about in the broader issues of life which we all face every day, so your return to my blog to with some regularity will be an encouragement to me, and, I hope, a blessing to you.
So now for the last general health report: Each day begins with a physical struggle to get out of bed. My joints pound with pain, my back, which needs attention now that chemo is over, is not good. Legs are numb and experience varying degrees of pain day and night, though I think physical therapy may be helping. My esophagus, nasal passages, Eustachian tubes (throat to ears) all still feel raw as though they have been sandpapered daily. Chemo odors and unpleasantries appear without notice and last for a few hours or a few days. This is all a big surprise/shock to me, as I had my last chemo on December 1. My long-time internal medicine primary care physician, Paul Sanders, says that 2007 will be different.
Meanwhile I go back for a CT scan in May, and late May begin 4 weeks (once weekly) of maintenance chemo with Rituxan, the monoclonal antibody (not a poison like the 4 other parts of my previous chemo cocktail). I’ve switched oncologists, and while this regimen would be the same with either, I’m much more pleased with Dr. Susan Guba. She seems really on top of her game and has much more energy and involvement.
Under the "new normal" scale I’m feeling fine today and have felt good this past week. End of medical report. No more tawdry details to inflict on you!
More thoughts on life, faith, culture to come soon. God bless you!