Surgeries: I will have two surgeries between now and May 1. The first one is a pre-surgery surgery tomorrow afternoon, 4/20. Its purpose is to install a drain to pull off infectious material to enable the doctor to see clearly on the 5/1 surgery, and to prescribe an antibiotic to take prior to surgery. Tomorrow's surgery should last about 90 minutes. They will keep me overnight and then most likely release me on Friday as part of their "catch, tag and release" program.
The 5/1 surgery is to remove a very large stone from one of my kidneys. They will go in by small incision, attempt to remove the stone by grinding and vacuum, and keep me in the hospital that night. The next day, they will perform a CT scan to make sure they got all the fragments. If they got it all, they will let me go home. If not, there will be a repeat surgery on 5/3. So, I will be in the hospital 2-3 days, then recover at home through 5/7.
We have a name for people like you, Daryl. It's called recidivism. Can you say recidivism, Daryl? Do you know what that means?
Chemotherapy for multiple myeloma: This last round was tough, but it did decrease the cancer by about 20% (overall decrease of about 40% since early February). I will need to discontinue chemotherapy until surgeries and recovery are complete.
Shortness of breath: The reason for my extreme shortness of breath of late is poor quality blood, likely caused by the bone marrow not making good blood due to the cancer, side effects of the chemotherapy drug, and lack of activity brought on by poor quality blood (#vicious cycle).
As always, our hope and trust is in the Lord, along with our gratitude for His sustaining power and provision thus far, and thanks to you for your friendship, encouragement and prayers.
