Good Gnus!

Finally, we have received some good news. In the past it seems like every time Julie and I met with the doctors to get word on whether I was making progress, the news was bad. If you've read the blog you know that my local oncologist and the doctors at Johns Hopkins told me death was probably a few months away. Fortunately, the doctors here at Cancer Treatment Centers of America have not given up.

Last Tuesday I had the first Brachytherapy procedure. The first part of this procedure is to do an endoscopy -- sticking a tube down my throat and looking around to see what is in the esophagus and stomach. When they did the endoscopy they found that my esophageal tumor had shrunk by about half and that there was no evidence of a tumor in my stomach at all. The doctor said that was better than he had expected, and that I am making good progress. He is confident that the Brachytherapy will reduce the tumor further, and in fact, wants to do six sessions of therapy rather than the four he originally planned. This means I will have three sessions before we go on our cruise, and three more in March when we return.

Needless to say, we are very thankful to get this report and really feel that my health has turned a corner. Of course, there is a long way to go before being cancer free, but at least I'm headed in the right direction. I've been eating pretty much normally for the first time in months and feel some energy returning. I have another Brachytherapy tomorrow, then the third on Monday. Julie and I will head home on Tuesday, see Ashley and Dan and pick up Kiki, then get ready for our trip to Florida on Sunday.

Tonight Julie and I are going down to the hotel restaurant for a Valentine dinner. We're going to have another snow storm so thought we'd better stay local. It's not fancy, but it's the best we can do. Happy Valentine's Day!

Thanks to all of you for your care, concern, prayers, and healing wishes. I know that all of your healing energy is helping me to recover.

(My apologies to one of my favorite authors, P.G. Wodehouse, for appropriating the title of this post. )