Release Me

So here we are. A week ago I posted an update that informed you that Michele had to get admitted to the hospital with another infection.  Thankfully, the stay in the hospital was very brief and Michele was released after just two days and she was back home, yelling at me incessantly. I could not be happier!

Today is Friday and Michele had an appointment with her oncologist. It was unclear whether or not her oncologist (a.k.a Dr. Hottie) would push ahead and continue with chemo treatments, delay them for another week or stop them altogether.

After an extended and affectionate embrace, Dr. Hottie released me and turned to Michele to shake her hand and congratulate her on the happy news: No more chemo!  After Michele’s group of doctors conferenced, which included the infectious disease team, the verdict was that with the multiple infections Michele has developed while on chemo, she would be ‘playing with fire’ if she went forward and took the two remaining doses of chemo.  Ultimately, Dr. Hottie felt that Michele received a sufficient amount of chemo and was OK with ending the treatment 2 doses short of plan.

Michele could not be happier that this part of her path back to full health is over. The only person more gleeful is me, although Liliana and Anabella might be able to fight us both for the happiest person title.  If our children had to endure any more meals or dressing sessions led by me, they just might personally march me to the gallows pole.  That said, Michele is still administering IV antibiotics to herself (she really should get her nursing certification) for the next 10 days to ensure the infection she was admitted for is fully flushed out of her body.  She also still has a small wound in her reconstructed right breast that has been quite reluctant to heal and thus, she has surgery scheduled for September 29 to close the wound for good.  However, the wound has been showing signs of healing on its own so we are crossing our fingers that it heals on its own and surgery will not be necessary.

What a topsy turvy ride it has been thus far. Without question, Michele and certainly myself, could not have carried on through it all without the stupendous support of our family and friends.  We are so grateful and thankful for the people that stand at attention, willing and committed to provide glue when portions of our lives get unstuck.  We thank you and although it was impossible to include everyone in the video, I am reposting the one I created when Michele started this journey.  I will continue with updates as needed but I hope and expect them to be less frequent going forward.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_NrHOPYq9L0VTJ2TmZqZEVsWmc

https://diaryofamadmike.wordpress.com/2016/04/04/paging-michael-buffer/