Cloudy Days

• Thursday, February 5, 2009 9:20 AM, CST
Hi everyone. It's a cloudy day outside, but I'm feeling the sun shining down on Mike today. Yesterday we spent the whole day at Kaiser with an early morning MRI, an update appointment with Mady, Mike's nurse practitioner, and a very extended appointment at the chemo infusion center. Anyway, the MRI gave us good news, there is no significant growth on his tumor. This is great! What it means is that the new chemo, CCNU, has been successful at preventing the tumor from spreading. Mady does caution us to report any changes that come up with Mike during the next 6 week cycle, as his Avastin can cloud MRI scans, and so they can't rely solely on the images. Yet with Mike exhibiting no significant neurological changes, we are optimistic. He has been free of any seizure activity for the past four weeks. His consistent challenge continues to be fatigue and nausea.
Last weekend Barbara and Tessa visited for a couple of days. Tessa baked a delicious cake which was devoured quickly. Dante BBQ'd us some chicken for Super Bowl Sunday. We enjoyed all the good food, and skipped out on the game.
The rest of us here at home are doing our best to keep our lives in order. I recently decided to take time off from work. In trying to keep everything afloat, I have been having increased concerns managing stress. In order to take care of Mike and the kids, I also need to take care of myself. What will help me most right now is to be home with Mike. I don't want to take advatage of this good periods.
This weekend my cousin Fred is coming up for a visit. He has offered to supervise the kids so Mike and I can get away. We will be enjoying an overnight trip to the Russian River. We will count this as our romantic Valentine's Day celebration.
Thanks for all your prayers.
Love. Dan