Tuesday

April 22, 2025

    12 days down, 13 to go, so that means, after tomorrow I will be over halfway finished with my radiation treatments. Still no issues at the surgical site.  It's a little warm, but no redness, no dryness or cracking. I see Dr. Harris tomorrow, hopefully he will concur that everything looks good.  Everyone always asks how I'm feeling.  I'm never totally sure if they are asking about my physical state or my mental state. Physically, I'm fine. I get a little more tired during the day than usual, but no pain or discomfort. I'm still able to get my 10,000 steps in. Mentally I'm fine, too. I have full trust and confidence in my doctors, the treatment plan, and that God is in full control. 

    Psalm 73:26

       My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 

    Speaking of my doctors, I heard from Dr. Tran tonight.  Cathy and I both appreciate that she reaches out and contacts me personally when she has news or test results. Last Thursday I underwent a CT urogram to check out a spot on my kidney.  The results showed nothing cancerous or serious.  Dr. Tran said it was probably just a cyst (which did give me a pause since the original tumor was thought to be just a cyst). She is also very happy with my progress, and I'll check back in with her on June 3rd. 

    Deuteronomy 31:8

        The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

    I learned a little about the history of merkel cell carcinoma this week.  Merkel cells were first discovered in 1875 by Friedrich Merkel. Dr. Cyril Toker was the first to describe merkel cell carcinoma in 1972.  Dr. Jing Feng was the first to discover the merkel cell carcinoma polyomavirus. As I've shared, my father died from a rare form of cancer, mycosis fungoides. That was first discovered in 1806.

      Last week I shared how I know that God directed my path when I decided 2020 was the right time to retire. There was more to that story. Late in May, Cathy's father had a significant health episode requiring hospitalization and then a 70+ day stint in a rehabilitation facility. The whole family chipped in in to help out, and Cathy took on many responsibilities for her father and mother during this time. This continued into the new school year.

     I would have helped out no matter what, but the fact I was now retired made it so much easier.  I took over all of the cooking, grocery shopping, laundry, and other household responsibilities.  I was able to run any errands she needed, help set up appointments and be available for her parents while Cathy was at work. She liked to joke that she had always wanted a "house husband." God provided a way for me to be available for my wife when she was going to need me the most. 

    2 Corinthians 9:8

        And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all time, you may abound in every good work. 

    One of Cathy's retirement hobbies has been sourdough baking: bread loaves, rolls, biscuits, and cookies.  She is baking a couple of dozen cookies tonight for us to take to the treatment center tomorrow.  A thank you for all the great care I've been getting. 

    As always, thanks for your prayers!!

Comments

  1. MaribelApril 23, 2025 at 6:03 AM

    I have a nodule on my liver too. It's not cancerous either. They it's very common and would only be removed if it grows to the point of causing discomfort. Okay, then. Whatever they say, I'm m still going to heaven. Psalm 118:8

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

 Thursday February 20     Today was a rough day, which was sad because it had been a great week of church activities, family visits, and Cathy and me time.      The only issue during the week is that we still hadn't heard from the doctor about the PET scan or brain MRI getting approved by insurance. I checked in a couple of times, but no answers. I prayed every day for the approval to come through, but it never did.  I also gave the situation completely to God and told Him I trusted that whatever happened it was for the good.       That leads us to today. I was supposed to hear by 3:00 PM what time they wanted me to check in tomorrow. When I hadn't heard anything by 3:30, I called the scheduler for information.  During the call we asked her if the doctor still wanted to do the surgery if the scans hadn't been performed yet. She checked and confirmed what we were afraid of, the doctor wanted the scans and didn't want to perform ...
Read more
  Thursday January 30, 2024               When your mother had cancer, your father had cancer, your brother had cancer, and you’ve been living the last 19 years with a medical condition that can lead to cancer, it’s not a great shock when you hear from your doctor that you have cancer. When you’ve also had numerous basal cell carcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas removed it’s not a surprise when it’s your dermatologist sharing the news. What was surprising was finding out that the cyst you had removed wasn’t a cyst but was a rare form of cancer called merkel cell carcinoma.             Merkel cell carcinoma only affects 4 people out of a million. It can also be very aggressive and deadly.   It was the type of cancer that killed Jimmy Buffett. If it’s found early, there’s a 75% chance of living 5 or more years. My father died from a rare form of skin canc...
Read more
 Thursday July 24, 2025     The dermatologist appointment went well, nothing new to be concerned about. Tuesday I will be having the special blood test which will highlight if there are any markers or antibodies present to indicate a recurrence of the cancer. Prayers would be appreciated.      Monday, I had my hernia surgery.  It went well, but the process had a few hiccups. My surgery was originally scheduled for 11 AM, but Friday the hospital called and told me it was switched to 4:30 PM because of an emergency surgery the doctor was needed for in the morning. I arrived at the hospital at 2:30 and taken to pre-op around 3:30. We then learned the doctor was just getting out of surgery and had another one before mine. I finally was in the operating room before 7:30 PM. The surgery was over around 10 and at that hour, the doctor decided to keep me in the hospital overnight. I had a nice single room and great nurses throughout the experience.  It to...
Read more