...and, a major step forward!

I went to Stanford Hospital last Thursday for a procedure to help me swallow more effectively. I had an endoscopy with a balloon that was inflated to widen the passage between my esophagus and my stomach. I only needed it widened about 4-5 millimeters or about 33%. Evidently, some scar tissue had grown in following surgery and closed the passage a bit. I was having trouble swallowing certain things...like food! I was a little apprehensive about the procedure because I didn't want the passage to be open too wide. Given that gravity is the only force that now keeps food in my stomach, I didn't want a wide opening that would let the food come back up to my esophagus(or beyond, God forbid) if did something like stand on my head for a minute. I'm not likely to do that, but go with the hypothetical for minute. It wouldn't be pretty.

I was sedated with Demerol. That's my favorite. I feel wonderful for two days after. I was even happier when I had lunch immediately after the procedure and was able to eat things that I hadn't been able to eat in months. I continued to eat even more over the weekend. Wow! I might be able to gain some weight back in the coming weeks.

After lunch, I went shopping for a new camera. I accidentally left my camera in an overhead compartment following a recent trip. I bought a new Cannon SLR that is just magnificent.

I also played 18 holes of golf on a beautiful 'Indian Summer' fall Saturday. My game improved a little.

Today, we toured Big Sur for the day. We managed to be at Garapatta Beach for sunset and we were rewarded with a combination of pink sunset and a sand bar that was smooth as glass to mirror the sky.

I'm back to work tomorrow and loving that, too. Life is really good! It makes me want to stand on my head!

Slight set back

I'm doing fine. I had another couple of weeks of Shingles attack that made it necessary to rest more than I wanted. I think the symptoms were light because I had a Shingles Immunization before my diagnosis. Since I started treatment, I've had enough trauma to trigger Shingles three times. Each time, the symptoms were much lighter than they might have been. So, I highly recommend that those of you who read this get a Shingles Immunization soon if you once had Chicken Pox.

That said, I feel good now. I took 10 days off from work, rested, and caught up with long overdue family visits. I'll start back to work on Monday. I'm more determined than ever to lift weights every other day. I have a lot of muscle to build. My weight has remained stable.

I've had a chance to meet with my Oncologist regarding progress. He was happy with my status and designed a program that includes a CT Scan every 6 months (instead of the normal 3 months) and an Endoscopy every year. He doesn't expect to see this cancer again, but we can't take any chances. The norm is that we need to see no cancer for 5 years before we are comfortable.

He also agree that I should have the passage between my esophagus and stomach enlarged from 9mm to 12mm. This will be done on October 25 at Stanford. Basically, they do another endoscopy and use a balloon to push back scar tissue that has formed since surgery. I was warned that scar tissue could form and I may have to do this more than once. The good news is that it's not too invasive or painful. I'll be in and out in a few hours with no side effects.