Maureen, Doug, and Mike

This will serve as a bit of an update on Maureen Vellia, Doug Sommer, and me--as you will see it's a mixed bag, and cancer still sucks.

We don't have an update on Maureen's health status, but did hear that the fund raising event went well and brought in more money than expected.  There will be more events soon, so hopefully some of the ATL folks can come out for one of them.

I mentioned a little while back that Doug Sommer (my sister's next door neighbor) had prostate cancer and was fighting for his life with it.  Marie tells me now that Doug has lost the fight, and is in terminal hospice care at his home.  He is expected to live for only another week, maybe two. I only met Doug and his wife Phyllis a few times, but could tell that he was was a great guy, a loving husband, and wonderful father to their two kids.  You can learn more about Doug here:

http://www.atlantasymphony.org/About/Artists/ASO-Musicians/Douglas-Sommer.aspx

He was a professional musician, playing bass in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and teaching lessons to lots of kids over the years.  Please send your best Team Mike Good Vibes to Doug and Phyllis so that his remaining days can be pain-free and peaceful.

The rest of this posting comes with one of those warnings that

"The following content contains gross and yucky descriptions...squeamish readers might want to exit here or refresh their cocktail while others proceed."

About six months ago I detected another large fragment of dead bone making its way to the surface in my mouth.  I predicted that it would take about six months for the whole process to complete.  Almost exactly on schedule, it did that yesterday.  As you know, my pain level recently spiked and I found it difficult to eat, drink, and even swallow water.  After taking a dose of pain meds and the resulting nap, I did my weekly thing of poking around in my mouth with one finger, to feel any new developments in there.  I immediately felt the sharp exposed edges of a bone fragment, and could tell it was a biggun'--maybe another "Trophy Shard."  I was able to wiggle it, and sure enough, it started to come loose--like when a kids' tooth starts to come out.  After a few wiggles, I heard a little "pop", which was the fragment being fully dislodged from my jaw.  What came out was "Trophy Shard II", a disk-shaped piece, about 3/8 inches in diameter--jagged and very nasty looking.  It hurt just to look at it, knowing it had been wreaking havoc in my mouth for so long.

As when Trophy Shard I came out, the pain level in my jaw went down immediately, to about half of what it's been lately.  Still running about a steady 3, but a very welcome change after the 6-7 it's been for the last 6 weeks.  It still hurts to chew and I'm still limited to soft foods, but I can now swallow pain-free, which allows me to eat more at one sitting.

Now, that does not mean Team Mike is off the hook for those Vicodins I mentioned last time.  It's too soon to know my new rate of daily consumption, and if I have enough to get me home--so keep trying to find some to send to me in NZ.  Just so you know, I'm keeping track...

Mike