The ups and downs continue, but the overall trend is up. On the up side I met with Dr. Yom, my radiation oncologist, and Dr. Fong, my Kaiser surgical oncologist, and they both were pleased with my progress. Neither could find any trace of my primary tumor. On July 30th Dr. Yom felt that the secondary site was steadily shrinking. She actually had a difficult time finding it. Two weeks later when I saw Dr Fong and he couldn't find any trace of either tumor. That's obviously a good sign but they won't officially declare me free of this cancer until I hit 5 years from end of treatment. The probabilities really start to look great if I can stay clean for 3 years. So far the reports of the effectiveness of the treatment are as positive as possible. Just one more thing to be patient about. Sigh.

I'm now down to just 2 medications (Yeah!!): my opiate pain patches and an over-the-counter anticonstipation med. We cut my pain patches down from two to just one this Thursday. The good news is that I'm not experiencing any severe withdrawl symptoms yet. I'm just very tired and a little depressed. It helps to know that the depression is coming from cutting back on the med but knowing doesn't eliminate the feeling. Bonnie and the kids have been extra affectionate and that helps.

The constant battle to maintain my weight is starting to wear me down a bit. The slightest disruption to my eating schedule seems to consistently result in the loss of a pound or two which is damned difficult to regain. I'm probably still 4-8 weeks away from being able to gain weight. I'm looking forward to not focusing most of my day on eating. Hopefully, my eating speed starts to return to normal soon, too.

On the home front, Dashiell came home from his 4 weeks of camp, so we are 5 once more at least until Lauren goes to college next month. He had a great time and wants to go back next summer. Carolyn passed her driving test so we now have 2 teens driving and sharing a car. We're only 8 months from Dashiell getting his driving permit. (Bonnie's note: both girls didn't get their license until just a few months before their 17th birthday. I would like Dash to do the same.) It just doesn't seem possible. You may want to stay off the sidewalks! You have been warned. ;-)