Mike got some unexpected good news during an appointment with his lead oncologist last week. We were thinking that Dr. Henderson would be scheduling the next scan in about two months, but Dr. Henderson liked Mike's progress so much that he doesn't see a need for the next scan until this coming December! And, Dr. Henderson has set Mike's "remission clock" at two years, so we did a little (actually, too much) celebrating for that anniversary. There is no exact date when that clock started, but they generally consider sometime around the middle of treatment, if the ensuing scans are clean.
And, we have great news to report on our niece, Mara. After many weeks of slow or no progress (and several serious setbacks) she is now fully on the road to recovery. Her progress in the last 2-3 weeks has been nothing short of miraculous. She is off the ventilator during the day, and uses it only as a precaution at night. While she is still very weak, she has almost full range of movement with her arms and legs, and even walked a few steps this past weekend. She had been practicing her walk for about a week and surprised her father by walking with him watching--unknown to him that she had made that much progress. She is scheduled to leave the hospital in April 21st, over three months after her surgery.
She still has a long ways to go, and there is no way to know how much she will recover--but she is light years ahead of where she was just a couple of weeks ago, and the sky's the limit for her. She got great news that she has been accepted into three universities, with offers of partial track scholarships. After many weeks of thinking there would be no way for her to graduate high school this semester, or even attend the ceremony, it looks like both things will happen. It will be a very emotional scene when she walks up the stage to get her diploma.
Several of you have been asking about Mara, so we know that Team Mike has been hard at work with your Good Vibes for her. Much appreciated, by us and Mara's family.
Mike and Terry
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