Great News Today!!!

Marc and I went back to MD Anderson today for the latest MRI results and got some great news -- the only thing visible on the MRI is the empty tumor cavity. There is no evidence of any new tumor growth!! What great news and we are thrilled.

Marc pain has improved significantly since he had the vertebroplasty. The difference is amazing. He now only needs pain medications a couple of times a day. The neuro-oncologist is arranging for a bone density study and is referring Marc to an endocrinologist to see if the newer medications for osteoporosis will help Marc's condition. We are hoping the medication will help Marc to avoid any further fractures in the spine or elsewhere. We will just have to wait and see what the studies show and what the specialist thinks about possible treatment.

Marc has shown some improvement since he has been home. He is now walking some with the walker. His caregiver takes him to physical and occupational therapy 3 times a week and he is going to speech therapy 3 times a week. His days are quite busy now, which is good. His speech seems to have improved a little, still not good but the improvement gives us hope. His speech therapist has arranged for us to try out a speech assistive device called Lingraphica. It has shown good results in trials on patients with aphasia. I have a friend whose mother is using one now and she is very pleased with the results just after a few days. With any luck at all it will help Marc with his communication skills. That would be a blessing all around! Marc gets so frustrated, he knows what he wants to say but the words just won't come out. It frustrates me too as I sometimes have no idea what he is trying to tell me.

Please continue to keep Marc in your prayers.

Home from rehab. and not a minute too soon!

Marc had a wonderful surprise from his buddies from the Ratshack, a social networking internet site that Marc has been involved in for a long time. For several years they have had a get together at a campground near here. Marc and one of the other fellows were the organizers of the "Rat Fest", as it is now known. About 15 of them arrived at the rehabilitation center and surprised Marc on Halloween. It was really nice to see old friends and the joy on Marc's face was priceless. It was pure pleasure to see Marc laugh and clown around with them. I have inserted a few pictures of their visit.

I brought Marc home from rehab today and he couldn't be happier. I think some days he thought he was never going to get home again.

The therapy has been good for him and he is much stronger now. He can make it to the bathroom and back using the walker now. It is still a struggle for him but he is a fighter and is determined to get better. He still struggles with his speech, the aphasia hasn't improved much but every now and then he gets something out that he wants to say. That is an improvement. I have arranged for him to go back to the speech therapist that he had before and I am hoping that will help. I have also found a computer assisted language system that I hope will be approved by the insurance company. It should help a lot, if it works like they say. It will speak phrases for Marc and will also help him to relearn some of the things he has lost in his language skills.

It's now been a little over a year now since Marc was diagnosed. He has a followup appointment on Tuesday with the oncologist. There is no MRI scheduled at this time so I'm not sure if they will restart the chemo without repeating the MRI. I will let you all know when I know more. For now we are just going to enjoy Marc being home again.