One more for the Road

We started this journey together almost a year ago and I thank you all for keeping tabs on me and making this hurdle more bearable. Now it's time for me to release you all in to the wild as I go forward with the day-to-day steps towards my new normal.

To keep you up to date with one last episode of "The Doctors" before we go:

We had a good day on Wednesday, meeting with the cardiologist, picking and poking to find a vein for the CT IV and meeting with the surgeon.  I'm still having issues with my breathing, swallowing, speaking and heart rate and I've been feeling lately like I'm regressing, but Dr. A. summed it up pretty well when he said, "You're not regressing. You ARE getting older."

So for all the mess - the good news is that a lot of what I thought were signs of regression really mean I am on the road to recovery!

The cardiologist says my heart went through a lot of trauma with the tumor and then the surgery, but the medication I am on should keep me in good stead and we should see good progress in 6 to 12 months.  AND the CT scan came back looking good with no concerns from the doctor.

I have had recent episodes of coughing, hacking and quite unsightly and ill timed regurgitation.  Turns out that means my vocal chords are improving, loosening up areas that have been paralyzed causing phlegm and the resultant coughing episodes.  All good! (Unless you happen to be present.). Next up: I start several weeks of pulmonary rehabilitation to help with the breathing. Who would have guessed that the recovery would be the hard part!

We now seem to be on track with recurring doctor appointments, quarterly CT scans and the pending pulmonary rehab.  This will likely be months, if not years, in the making, but we now know what to expect.

So there. Now on to the rest of our lives.

Thank you for having joined the journey and being there for me for this past year - Yikes!  What a 12 months it's been!  Now it's time to go back to just being there for each other as friends and family.  You and a wonderful team of doctors and nurses have gotten me to where I am today and it is with that love and support that I will see this through to new days of good health!

Bye for now!

With much love,
Joe (Mending)