The matter at hand...

Please pray about the cardio test this week. Will be scheduling it shortly. Naturally, surgery recovery has fairly well eliminated my otherwise regular cardio workout this last month...*sigh*

Assuming that test goes OK, here's the sched again:
Sunday, 7/6 - Lisa, my brother Jim, & I head out to Houston
Monday, 7/7 (morning) over to MDA for one more round of bloodwork, one more Dr. appt., & then off to ICU (*best Howard Dean delivery* "yeaaa!")
Then, 14 heavy doses of IL-2, 1 every 8 hours. That works out to about 5 days of IL-2 doses
(I'm told that there is no extra charge for all the side effects that accompany heavy doses of IL-2...)
Then, 2 days in hospital to recover somewhat, & then home.
So, if all goes as planned, should be home in 7-8 days.

3 weeks of (some semblance of) normality, then back out to MDA for another fun-filled week.

Then re-scan to see where we are. The strong hope/prayer is that those particular scans show that the melanoma is gone. If that would be the case, then there's a great chance of me being cancer-free for a long time. Should that happen, you'll be able to hear the shouts all the way from Dr. Homsi's office @ MDA. Should that not happen, then chemo is still on the table as an option. (note: the odds are not great here, which is generally the case with metastatic melanoma...have I told you lately to use sunscreen? *sigh* One friend said recently, "in light of what you're describing, I've started applying sunscreen when I go to bed at night!" *smile*)

"So, how's your state of mind, Mike?"
Glad you asked. Basically, these things all mixed up:
--palpable fear of IL-2 side effects
--sorrow for putting my family through this
--hope & faith in my Lord Jehovah Rophe/Jehovah Shammah (the Lord Who Heals and Who is Present)
--great joy and blessing in the encouraging words & deeds & prayers of so many.

I have a fairly healthy mental blocking mechanism, which doesn't allow me to dwell for long on what next week will be like. This is a good thing!

As to my faith & hope, both are present. God is absolutely not bound by the laws of probability & statistical tendencies! He does still heal--both supernaturally and through medical process & professionals. (either one would be fine with me...I'm not picky!)

So, there we are, ladies & gents. Thanks so much for reading, for caring, for praying, for serving, & for loving on us. I hope that I will ever be more aware of needs and of how to bless and love through deeds after this bend straightens out. (Assuming it does so)

I had such a blast last night at the community picnic/fireworks show at church. Grooving on the live music (everything from Glenn Miller's "In the Mood" to Creedence's "Born on the Bayou" to the Eagles' "Love Will Keep Us Alive"...), watching kids run & play, getting to chat with many friends, (including one who just completed her last chemo dose and who got some great cancer-related medical news and one who is still in the battle but who got some encouraging news about his tumor as well), and then the time-honored tradition of watching stuff blow up (fireworks). Very therapeutic for me; a great help in getting my head out of the box & seeing life beyond my current issues. Thanks to all who played a part in making that happen!

Off to the eye Dr.! (yeah...despite what I'd like to think, life goes on these days...)

Much love & hope
Mike