Mike cleared another hurdle this past Monday on his way to a full recovery. With a loud "pop" and a bit of pain, the doctor extracted his feeding tube with a hard tug on it. Mike had not used the tube for the previous 5 days, indicating that he could eat enough food orally to meet his nutritional needs. Before that time, and since, he has been experimenting with lots of different foods to see what he can eat safely, and can taste. Some foods are still off limits, but the list of "Terry approved" foods grows a bit every day.
Mike has lost a lot of weight--more than 50 pounds--and will likely see another small drop in this transition. But, that should turn around soon. He feels really good at this weight, and his goal is to stabilize at around -40 from when this all started.
The removal of the feeding tube is the last big milestone for this stage of his recovery. We are trying hard to get our lives back to some semblance of normalcy and for Mike to continue to get stronger as we look to the next PET scan in about 6 weeks. That test will be more definitive than the biopsy of three weeks ago, so we have not fully exhaled yet.
Unless there is some unforeseen event before the PET scan comes around, this will be the last blog until then. Please check back in on us in late September.
Mike was honored last week by his high school by being elected to its Wall of Fame (You know, "The older we get, the better we were" kind of thing). In his acceptance speech, he acknowledged the support we have received from family and friends as one of the keys to our success in beating this disease...so far. Be on the lookout for the next "Good Vibes Needed" message as the PET scan comes around. We still need your support.
Mike and Terry
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