Medical updates

Well, my aunt got her test results late Friday from her latest MRI and blood draw. Her tumor hasn't grown, but it hasn't gotten any smaller either. Her blood count was good and was actually an improvement her Doc wasn't expecting. All this means she gets to take about a 6 week break from her chemo "drip" treatments but has to continue to take the chemo pill everyday.

It's good news of sorts. Pancreatic Cancer doesn't usually keep you around very long and she's been at this for just at a year now. She has good days and bad days, but at the end of the day she's still with us. She and my uncle are flying back to IL with my mom and dad later this month and will be here for Christmas. I'm looking forward to it and I hope (against all hope) that my messed up family can keep it together for the two weeks they're home. We're just now starting to get everybody to get along again in light of the two upcoming weddings - we certainly don't need any new kinks tossed in.

Our friend with kidney problems got his transplant last Thursday. Yipee!!! His surgery was postponed a couple of times the day it was scheduled because his surgeon got called to the East Coast to perform an emergency harvest of a donor organ on someone that died and to get it into the other patient. I guess he was prepped for his operation around 4pm and didn't get in until after 7pm. All that time he was in the OR alone because they had him prepped and sterile. I can't imagine that. He had a group of people that went up with him (he's in Madison, WI) including his wife and daughter and none of them could be with him until after his operation. I would have been an emotional mess.

Things went well and he should be home sometime the end of this week. I'm so happy for him. I've never in my life known such a down to earth, caring and generous man. The response from the community for this guy has been unreal. Ends up the guy that donated his kidney used to be from our town and now lives in New York. When all this first came out that he needed a kidney this guy called up and said he'd give him whatever he needed, that he'd lived a good life and if he could help somebody out he would.

It makes me glad to know that with all the violence, disrespect and overall coldness of people in the world these days that there are still people out there that are willing to go the extra mile for someone in need - no matter what that need may be.