I have so much I need to write about here. First, I'll update you about Mark's condition. In December, towards the end of his chemotherapy and radiation regimen (less than a week before it was over, in fact), he was admitted to the hospital due to his electrolytes being off-kilter.
He missed work on Monday due to feeling unwell, and he went to work on Tuesday. That afternoon, his oncologist admitted him, and 24-hours of IV later, with just a minor deficiency of magnesium, he was released. He took one day at home to recover, and returned to work Friday in spite of phone calls from his team and from his Principal and AP assuring him that he could stay home and take it easy. He resumed his treatment regimen the following Monday, completing his last 5 days of treatment on Friday, December 21. In all, he lost about 10 pounds. That doesn't sound like much until you realize it was nearly 7% of his body weight.
Since then, he has rested and gone back to work following the break. He's gained back the 10 pounds, and it's great to see his beautiful smile again. He's doing well enough to get on my nerves again. I never thought I'd be so happy to be irritated with him.
This week, he had an MRI on Tuesday and a biopsy on Wednesday. Way back in October, when he had his PET Scan, it revealed an area of increased activity on his lower back. The doctors chose not to worry about it at that time because he was about to start treatment anyway. Four months later, they decided it was time to investigate. We hoped that we would discover it had disappeared, but the MRI revealed it was still there. Smaller, but present. We see the surgeon again on Tuesday the 12th, so we will know more about what it is then. And I'll update you when I know!
His surgery for the colon cancer is scheduled for March 6. We will appreciate your prayers and support for that to go well, for the surgeon to be focused, present, and efficient, and for Mark's recovery to be as smooth as possible. It is a pretty major surgery; they'll remove most of his rectum and create a new one out of the lower part of his colon. So yeah. Pray for us all.
The kids are seeing a therapist to help them process their fear and worry and upset about Mark's condition. I'll probably start seeing one too, but right now I'm focused on work and on keeping our family moving forward.
He missed work on Monday due to feeling unwell, and he went to work on Tuesday. That afternoon, his oncologist admitted him, and 24-hours of IV later, with just a minor deficiency of magnesium, he was released. He took one day at home to recover, and returned to work Friday in spite of phone calls from his team and from his Principal and AP assuring him that he could stay home and take it easy. He resumed his treatment regimen the following Monday, completing his last 5 days of treatment on Friday, December 21. In all, he lost about 10 pounds. That doesn't sound like much until you realize it was nearly 7% of his body weight.
Since then, he has rested and gone back to work following the break. He's gained back the 10 pounds, and it's great to see his beautiful smile again. He's doing well enough to get on my nerves again. I never thought I'd be so happy to be irritated with him.
This week, he had an MRI on Tuesday and a biopsy on Wednesday. Way back in October, when he had his PET Scan, it revealed an area of increased activity on his lower back. The doctors chose not to worry about it at that time because he was about to start treatment anyway. Four months later, they decided it was time to investigate. We hoped that we would discover it had disappeared, but the MRI revealed it was still there. Smaller, but present. We see the surgeon again on Tuesday the 12th, so we will know more about what it is then. And I'll update you when I know!
His surgery for the colon cancer is scheduled for March 6. We will appreciate your prayers and support for that to go well, for the surgeon to be focused, present, and efficient, and for Mark's recovery to be as smooth as possible. It is a pretty major surgery; they'll remove most of his rectum and create a new one out of the lower part of his colon. So yeah. Pray for us all.
The kids are seeing a therapist to help them process their fear and worry and upset about Mark's condition. I'll probably start seeing one too, but right now I'm focused on work and on keeping our family moving forward.
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