Living, Loving, Learning

We've had more great news this week!!!  The bone marrow scan and urine analysis have come back clean, meaning there doesn't seem to be cancer anywhere else in Bruce's body and it has not progressed into Stage 2.  Whhhhhhhoooooooohooooooooo!  This is such a HUGE relief!!  There are still cancer cells showing up in the latest blood work but Dr. K attributes this to the still present tumor and feels sure that after the radiation treatment is finished this will also come back clean.  Bruce is starting to feel the side effects of the radiation treatment.  He is definitely more tired and battles waves of exhaustion.  He is dealing with periodic dry mouth but using a special gel and mouthwash along with lots of water to treat it.  He is starting to get a sore throat but it usually goes away by midday.  The most dramatic side effect so far is the changing of his taste buds.  Anything even slightly spicy(mild chili) or herby (rosemary bread)...

  We had an incredible weekend camping at Big Ridge State Park in TN.  The weather was absolutely perfect, mid 70's during the day, low 50's at night...really we couldn't have asked for better!  We chose this park, frankly, because a month ago when we tried to make reservations the Smokey Mtn. National Park was totally booked up.  We wanted to be somewhere in that general area and Big Ridge seemed like a kid friendly place.  Now we are sooooo happy we had not reserved a spot at a national park.    There were so many great moments but I'll just give you the highlights.  We camped with our dear friend Devin which was such a treat.  She is such a sweet and fun loving person and having her with us enhanced the experience.   She arrived a day before us and left a day before us and there was lots of "I wonder what Devin is doing now??" from Lucy after she had left.    When I told Lucy that ...

Hi Friends.  I'm delighted to report that there is not much to report!  Bruce's radiation therapy is on going and Dr. S has already seen the tumor shrink a bit!  YEAH!  Bruce has started to experience bouts of dry mouth and is definitely more worn out than usual but it is very tolerable for him.  Test results continue to trickle in, all saying that this cancer has NOT progressed into stage 2.  This is phenomenal news.  There are more tests results we are waiting for, such as the bone marrow biopsy (OUCH!) that he had this morning, but we are feeling more confident every day that this radiation treatment will be successful and Bruce will be cancer free by Thanksgiving.  I can't thank you often enough for all of your support.  There were times over the last month that we could have really gone to a dark place emotionally but your texts, comments, messages, calls, gifts, hugs, cards, etc. have continually and repeatedly picked us ...

...was pretty much what the neurosurgeon, Dr. B, told us today.  YAYYYYYYYYY!!  It feels like the news has gotten progressively worse with each doctor visit but today, the tide turned.  Dr. B looked at all the scans and test results and told us that he thinks the vertebrae is not too badly damaged by the tumor and that it should have no problem regenerating after radiation.  Apparently the part of the vertebrae that is most damaged is on the back of it which is not the weight baring side.  He does not foresee the need for surgery AND Bruce doesn't even have to wear the neck brace regularly.  Such amazing news!!  He may still wear it from time to time as it takes a bit of the pain away, but mostly it's just uncomfortable and he is so glad to shed it!  We will have a follow up with Dr. B in six weeks and in the mean time we are going to celebrate this good news!   Bruce has had the first 2 radiation treatments.  It looks like th...