December 21 and 22nd

Other people are wrapping up their holiday shopping, and I am relieved at not having to be part of it. We have completely forgotten about Christmas. Dad has been very accepting of our decision to pass on Christmas, but since we won't be leaving until after noon on Friday, I will have a chance to visit Dad for a while before we go to the airport. We do, however, have reason to celebrate. Before you started chemo, they ran another CT scan on you. When the doctor gave you the results, your tumor had not grown in two months. This was amazing news. Pancreatic tumors are known to double in size every three months, and here your tumor hadn't made measurable growth, even without chemotherapy. Now that you are getting chemo, we are hopeful it will either shrink or not grow any more. Can you imagine? I am having visions of you being the first person in history whose pancreatic cancer disappeared. They're just a fantasy.

Yesterday morning I told you I was disappointed not to have made the list of things that make you happy. You said you had been thinking of it during the night and had realized you had left me out, one of the main things that made you happy. So you did what I do: you omitted the obvious.

Today you had a nurse remove that last staple from your jejunal bypass. We had worried it would involve minor surgery but the nurse was able to do it, and now we won't have to worry about complications or infections while we're out of town.

Beth and Mark are already in Idaho. We are finally getting our reservations settled. This trip is something I need.

We had a big disappointment this evening. Our neighbor, who married a really nice woman in June, a woman who was friendly and sociable----unlike the former one----has decided the marriage is a mistake. They came over for dessert. She told me when she stayed later to help me fill out forms for your medical reimbursement. When I told you, you were really sad. We are going to have to find a way to still be friendly and accepting of him after she moves out.