I hope everyone is well. I want to start by thanking everyone that has offered Well wishes and good thoughts. You really have no idea how much of a difference it makes when you know others are truly concerned about you or have shared the same if not similar circumstances and to know they have pulled through as well. 

As of today, I am recovering well. I have finished all my Chemo and Radiation treatments and according to the latest CT Scans, we are definitely seeing the tumor shrinking. I don’t have an exact measurement but it appears to have at least a 25% reduction in size so, that’s not nothing. It’s opened up the door to further treatments now, specifically immunotherapy which I will be starting on Thursday. Then I will be getting a PET Scan in about 30 days will be able to show more details and give us a much better idea of how much progress I have made. 

The biggest problem I have right now is that because the radiation has caused some damage to my esophaguses, swallowing is a bit of an issue right now. I also have some pain in my chest and back also because of muscle damage from the radiation treatment as well. But it’s healing and I should be back to normal in the next week or two. 

It takes time to heal from these things like this mainly because of a combination of things. One is because of the secondary damage to my throat, it’s difficult to eat so I have lost a bunch of weight, a total of 20 pounds as of today. It’s not totally unexpected, they knew I was going to lose some weight but they don’t want me to lose anymore. So far, I’m now at 155# which is somewhat within my idea weight but I started out with all this around 170# to 175# and My healing is going to be dependent on how much nutrition I can maintain.  So, I have to start eating more. More proteins, carbs and fats to build up my weight and body mass. 

But, I’m getting there, it’s not a fast process, god knows I really want it to be because I have been watching a lot of recipe videos on YouTube and I’m dying to try some. I’m slowly building up my tolerances. I can easily do French onion soup and found a nice cheddar potato soup that goes down real easy. The more I try, the easier it’s getting but, I have to watch what I try to swallow. The harder foods are still out because they can re-injure the parts of my throat that are still healing. And I have to say, when your throat is damaged, it freaking hurts! I would have never thought so before but I believe it now. There are some damned sensitive nerves in there. 

As some of you may know, I was adopted as a baby and I spent quite a few years searching for my biological family, mainly just for medical reasons. Recently, in fact, just within the last couple of months, I have found them. So, now, I have another family to be a part of. 

It started out pretty well, I put in for a DNA at Ancestry.com and was contacted by a guy that was listed as a cousin but come to find out, is actually a nephew. My Sister’s son, in point of fact. From there, I found my mother, whom I thought had died years ago. She is very much alive, is 87 years old now and is still kicking it in Pennsylvania. I have spoken to both my mother and my nephew and my sister now. I also have an Aunt and a cousin that live fairly close to me. I look forward to meeting them once I am able to get out and about. 

Well, that pretty much covers everything. I’m getting better everyday and now, I have a new family that has become my biggest incentive to get better. I need to know more about where I came from. 🙂