As we are ending 2021, we have so much to be thankful for! It’s been quite a year!
John had surgery at Mayo on December 7. They robotically removed a tumor from his throat and some from the base of his tongue. And a clump of 34 lymph nodes in his neck. Of these only one was cancerous. The surgery was 8 hours, longest 8 hours of my life! The amazing thing was, I was calm all day! Prayer has been my constant since this all started. God is good, I ask daily for him to take my worries and get me through what I am dealing with on that day. This cancer diagnosis was not something we thought we would ever have to deal with, but I am thankful for our never ending faith and the belief that God is always in control. We don’t know the reason John got, not one, but two cancers! But we do know God will get us through this!
John was in the hospital for 3 days, with a feeding tube. The tube was removed before he left the hospital, and he was on a liquid diet, with a very sore throat and a tongue that didn’t move quite right. His diet was a lot of protein drinks, scrambled eggs, puréed fruit. He lost 20 pounds in 3 weeks. He doesn’t recommend this diet plan!! We stayed with our son and family, for 2 nights, they live an hour and half from Rochester. On Saturday we decided he was doing well enough to come home. Being in our own home was easier, and allowed me to sew while he rested. Sewing is my happy place! He had a drain tube in his neck, that was removed December 20. He was so happy to get that out!
We went back to Mayo on December 20 for a follow up. At that visit he was told, he would get 6 weeks of daily radiation in his neck and a once a week chemo treatment for 6 weeks. We were hoping not to have to go that route. But because he has CLL, they want to aggressively treat the squamous cell, so it doesn’t come back. What do we have to be thankful for? I am thankful they got all the tumors, I am thankful for a team that specializes in treating these cancers. I am thankful for all our friends and family that continue to reach out to us and pray for us.
The last two days have been a struggle for me. John is my rock, he’s the one who goes out to work, fixes whatever needs fixing, my sounding board, my teddy bear when I need a hug or two, my everything! Throughout all this it hit me hard how much I love this man!
As I say goodbye to 2021 and hello to 2022, I am so thankful for the life I have and the people in it. And I look forward to many more years with John!
