Well, that was interesting...
I’m sorry to leave you all wondering about last month’s surgery! It’s now been exactly four weeks, and that’s an inexcusably long time to keep you in suspense.[...]
Posted 2020-01-17T22:07:26Z
Erik Mueller-Harder - Journal
Read Entries & Updates
Posted 2019-12-07T23:59:58Z
24 months later, there’s great news and bad news
The good news — and we need to remember that it’s very good news! — is that (on more-or-less the second anniversary of the big surgery) I just had my fifth follow-up CT-scan and there is no sign of any return of the cancer. Hooray![...]
Posted 2018-08-18T22:01:50Z
Six-month check-up
Good afternoon, friends!
Karen just reminded me that I should let you all know that I had my six-month follow-up check-up at the end of June, and that there was no sign of any cancer. (I didn't send an update then, because they were concerned about elevated bilirubin levels — but it looks now as if these are due to a completely benign condition called Gilbert's Syndrome — so that's all right!) It'll be another 4½ years before they'll give me the "all clear," but for this particular cancer, the first year is by far the most likely time for any recurrence. So this is really good news![...]
Posted 2018-04-16T17:17:29Z
No news is good news
Hi, everyone! Just a quick update to let you know that I’m still here. Life is nearly back to normal (although I look out the mid-April windows at ice and snow and a gray sky that hasn’t broken in more than a week and I wonder!).[...]
Posted 2018-01-18T21:49:00Z
Not quite a walk in the park
When I first learned that I had cancer (while attending Campers’ Week at Pinewoods), a good friend urged me to spend as much time as possible outside, walking in the sunshine.[...]
Posted 2018-01-01T20:22:13Z
Happy New Year!
I’m sorry not to have posted for so long. Tl;dr: Convalescing takes patience, but all is well.
I’ve been home for three weeks now, and I’m very very happy to be here with my family and kitties. Gradually over these weeks I’ve reduced the pain killers they had me take, and gradually I’ve been able to expand what foods I can eat (almost anything at this point, but I need to be careful to eat it slowly and to not eat too much).[...]
Posted 2017-12-10T16:14:03Z
Going home!
It’s been a long slog, but things started looking a little brighter yesterday, and this morning Erik got the word that he could go home today![...]
Posted 2017-12-08T23:27:59Z
Thanks to you all
I’m sure I’ve said this before, but I’d like to repeat my thanks to each of you for your continuing encouragement and well wishes. This is dragging on longer than we had hoped, and it’s your cheers and whispers and messages and poetry that is keeping us going.[...]
Posted 2017-12-07T14:23:18Z
Finally some progress!
Monday and Tuesday were pretty frustrating, feeling like nothing was changing, but then things started happening:
1. Erik’s nasogastric tube was removed yesterday afternoon, which has made him much more comfortable, as its presence was causing his most troubling pain. That leaves 6 tubes (3 incoming, 3 outgoing); 4 of which will come out before we get to go home.[...]
Posted 2017-12-04T21:30:00Z
Bumps in the Road
Sorry for the delay in posting an update--it’s been a weekend of ups and downs. In short, everything related to the actual surgery is hunky-dory, but all the general recovery stuff has been rough. There’s lots going on, but most of it isn’t really stuff I want to post about (endless details about bodily fluids, their measurement and proclivities, that sort of thing).[...]