profundis absentia

so, i figure i better check in with everyone
as we close in on the date
yep,despite living and feeling better than he has in a few years
making us really feel the total absurdity of this fact
this thursday
the 28th of feb -- is the date for Tony's surgery.

tony has had a great time the last two months! so much celebrating, two lakers games, a night at Disney Hall, crowds at MOCA, countless bottles of scotch, homemade spaghetti, oscars and pizza and ice cream ice cream ice cream-- gourmet, hand delivered, cheap and fabulous galore. SOOOO many thank yous to all providers. it has been a jolly, chubbifying time-- and, thanks to the careful placement of that talc in his lungs during the biopsy, an easy breathing time as well. and let's not forget that the rhythm gods have restored his heart to sinus rhythm for some reason or other after seven years

so, despite all evidence to the contrary
it is true that T still has a life threatening cancer and
the magic surgeon is going to go in and dig it out by hand

here's a run down again for those who haven't been following the blog.
he goes in thursday, they slice
select a lymph node or two to sample
they sew
he wakes, they rearrange the 4 -6 tubes coming out of him at a tasteful angle
drug him heavily
he goes back to sleep
this goes on for a few yucky days, i am told
then, miraculously, he begins to feel human again
and they move him from one unit to another and he begins the
process of letting his wounds heal and his lung get used to not leaking air.
this can take anywhere from 5-10 days depending on how windy he might or might not be.

then he comes home, sleeps a lot,
rests, chats with friends, watches bad movies
takes more drugs and generally chants to the healing gods to make him feel better--
once that is over--about a month-
then, he goes into radiation
internal sunburns we've been told.
then.... depending on the state of the tasty lymph nodes
he gears up for 4 months of chemo
once that is ALLLLLLLLL OVERRRRRRRRR and he is still standing
(hopefully)
then he goes on interferon every day for the rest of his life.
sound like fun.
you bet.

so, we are in for it
and will proceed as we have proceeded thus far, one inch at a time.

we have plenty of food, thank you.
once tony comes home stay tuned for visiting opps
and so it goes.

sofie had her 17th birthday yesterday.
the guest bathroom is almost finished.
i will be at UCLA during the next week with T.
email is fine. i will not be answering the phone.
but will update the blog every day that there is something to say.

pray for steady hands and great drugs.
xxoo
s