The Cancer Journey

So how are we doing, a bit more than two weeks after surgery?   This post surgery time is difficult. At times I’m weary of pain and process, and looking for different ways to spend recovery hours. I’m starting to feel a bit more energy and am doing better managing pain. I’m weaning off of the opioids toward less potent anti-inflammatory and  analgesics. My brain is starting to clear from the fog. Jen and Kim tell me they notice I’m moving and stepping more lively. Trying to get a brief escape from the house daily… either a walk or a long sit on our new deck, or just going for a ride to pick up the grocery order. My doctors were quite encouraged by the surgery. For some reason in my case, they didn’t need to enter as deeply into the chest cavity as they normally would. Most patients require chest/lung tubes on both sides, but not in my case (I’ll have to ask more about that). They prepared me to expect to be connected to lots of wires and tubes when I awoke. I had plenty enough, but n

Tomorrow is surgery. I just called in to get my time to report. I need to be at St. Mary’s admissions at 5:30 AM, so this will be short. I had several pre-surgical appointments today and a consult with my surgeon.  We kind of chuckled about how much time we’ll spend together tomorrow. He told me it can be as long as an 8 hour surgery.   I do appreciate and need your prayers. My surgeon said he’s very glad for your prayers too.   The other night I was listening to a recording of 2 of my favorite comedians (Jim Gaffigan and Stephen Colbert) on a Late Show interview. Both of them are unashamedly religious guys and talk about it openly. I respect that. Yet  I heard a little twist in a joke about overusing the “prayerhands emoji”   that sounded like – if you need prayer and people are offering you prayer, you must somehow be inadequate and a bit “less-than.” I’ve got a different perspective. I honestly consider prayer essential and about the most important thing we can do in life. S