Home!

We are thankful to be back at home as of 9pm tonight.  The kids had smiles all over to be back in their own rooms again.  The trip went pretty smoothly, it wasn't too bad for me riding.  Leann's parents drove with us and the kids jumped back and forth between the two vans.

We met with Dr Hammock today, who is the neuro-oncologist who will follow me long term.  She said the greatest likelihood with these types of tumors is that they come back in the same location rather than elsewhere.  So there won't be any other types of scans or tests to do other than brain MRIs.  They will do every 4 months, then every 6, then every year.  These should be able to be done in Peoria and keep the travel down somewhat.

As for radiation, we have two options we need to decide between.  The first is x-ray(photon) radiation at Mayo.  The second is proton radiation, which is less common, but better in some cases.  We plan to meet with the proton radiation doctor at IU on Friday and learn whether my case would benefit from it or not.  If we end up at Mayo's, we were able to learn a little more about housing options there today and it could work out pretty nicely to find a house for 6 weeks for our family.

The progress feels slow to me but yet I can tell each day I'm moving more easily.  I'm still pretty stiff, and walk kind of slow and shaky but I'm brave enough to walk in the open now if needs be.  Eating is getting better, but it's still not easy to chew.  The Subway sandwich took a lot of work to get the bread down.  When your lip gets caught between your teeth and the sandwich, you have to take small bites :)

Our stack of encouraging cards/gifts welcomed us home, Wow!  Blessings to you all.

Love,
Derek & Leann