Bye-bye toxins

Tom has officially stopped taking all meds except the anti-seizure one. He was taking a steroid as well as chemo in pill form. I know it sounds a little risky but this just goes to show how COMPLETELY DESPERATE he is to put this sickly lifestyle behind him. He has traded in the toxins for vitamin supplements and is starting anew. Please refer to my last blog entry to fully understand Tom's reasoning.

Tom is scheduled to have one of his semi-annual marrow biopsies this Thursday. The purpose of this biopsy is to confirm that he is still cancer-free. The fear of relapse will always be present; a "clean" biopsy provides a temporary sense of relief. A marrow biopsy is very painful! It involves piercing the pelvic bone with a huge needle, and extracting a sample of marrow. Obviously, he will be given a sedative. The results will be available in a couple of weeks. As you can imagine, those two weeks are very long.

Near the end of July Tom has an appointment with his neurologist. With this doctor's approval Tom will be returning to work on the first Monday in August. He has a conference with his employer next week, during which Tom is going to suggest the possibility of starting out by working at home for three days each week and two in the office. I feel confident that he can do it. I mean, he sits in front of the computer all day at home. He rarely watches tv. He uses his talent to keep him busy, creating things every now and then such as a business card design for a friend, a random flyer for somebody, a logo for his nephew's Boy Scout Troup, but mainly just designs and icons as an ongoing hobby. He's always working on some little project. He's a geek!

Tom is feeling pretty good these days, however his looks can be deceiving. He looks like and old man: thinning gray hair, stiff joints, the assistance of a cane. But let's remember what our mothers always told us growing up: "It's what's on the inside that counts".