Back Home From Surgery

Hi Everyone -

I am back from surgery, which went well.  To remove my tumor they had to remove my whole scapula, so my mobility is now limited on the left side.  Alas, my dream of becoming a championship weightlifter will go unrealized. 

However, there are two pieces of good news to come from this removal of the scapula.  One, they were able to remove the whole tumor and once chemo is over they are confident the cancer will not return.  Two, this surgery eliminates the need for major radiation therapy, which would have also hurt my left arm's mobility and likely would have caused further issues 10-12 years down the road.

All that being said, I'm happy with the trade-off and with a little practice I should be able to do most of the things I did before.  They are going to give me a little time to recover before they start chemo, but we should get the ball rolling again before the end of the month.

I'll be back soon for another update.  Until then, I'm happy to be back home with Sam and the kids and look forward to finishing up the home stretch.  Take care, and thanks for your prayers, thoughts and support.

Alex

Surgery on Thursday!

Hi Everyone -

So the past week or so has been pretty uneventful, just a lot of tests to ensure I'm ready for surgery.  They say I am, so surgery to remove the tumor is supposed to happen on Thursday as scheduled.  After the surgery, I'll have eight more chemo treatments to clear things up and then I'm free to return to a life of normalcy. 

I'll provide another post late this week to let everyone know how the surgery went.  Until then, thanks to everyone for their support and prayers.  We continue to appreciate the hell out of every one of you who have helped us along the way.

Take Care,
Alex

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone, I hope you had a safe and fun New Year's Eve.  They release me from the hospital today, very happy about that.  Six days in a hospital can make you rather stir-crazy.  The next couple of weeks will be a lot of tests to prepare for the surgery on the 16th.  Hopefully the tests all give positive news and we can keep on schedule.  I'm ready to get to the home stretch of chemo and wrap this thing up.

Take care all, have a great start to 2014.

Alex