It's been a while...

I apologize for not updating this blog sooner.

It's been a relatively quiet summer. Our friends from Michigan came out to stay over July 4th weekend, and we've had days by the pool with friends from closer to home. I worked at home from June 20 through last Thursday, coming in every week or so to go through the mail and get the bills paid. My mom stayed with us several times, usually spending four days at a time. Consequently, I am familiar with some of the Yankee players now -- not by choice, but she's a big fan. I got some reading in, making decent use of our local library, and Ed and I tried to take advantage of our new Netflix membership. We've seen some very good movies ("Hotel Rwanda," "Crash"), some good movies ("Hustle & Flow," "Transamerica"), a couple so-so ("Inside Man," "The 40-Year-Old Virgin"), and one true clunker ("Four Brothers"). I think we're getting our money's worth, but we'll have to see how often we watch movies once I'm working consistent five-day weeks.

My insurance company finally cut off my physical therapy visits, so while I'm composing my first appeal letter, I've joined the facility's wellness program. (It turns out you can't actually appeal until you've been officially denied. A reduction in the number of visits does not constitute a denial.) Essentially, my physical therapist put together a list of exercises for me to perform, and for $10 per week, I can work out as many times as I want using their equipment. I just started it last week, and I'm going to try to get there at least twice a week. I have been using the treadmill at home as well as there, and I'm pleased to say I'm up to 15 minutes at a top speed of 3.0 mph. That's pretty far from my pre-biopsy days when I walked 30-45 minutes at a time at a top speed of 3.6 mph, but considering I was on crutches back in March, 15 minutes ain't too shabby.

We are headed off to Las Vegas soon for five days and we are looking forward to that. We haven't been there in quite a few years, and we enjoy hanging out by the hotel pool in the morning and then wandering around the casinos between lunch and dinner. Dinner is always a tough time, because there are so many restaurants (reasonably priced) that we enjoy. We plan to go to one Cirque du Soleil show so far, and we'll see what catches our interest for the rest of the time. I know one evening will be spent on the patio of the Fountain Bar at the Bellagio, watching the fountains dance to the music every 15 minutes. What a beautiful sight that is!

It's hard to believe three months have passed, but my next CT scans are next Tuesday, the 29th. I'm having them done in NYC at a facility Dr. Keohan apparently likes (she didn't like the quality of the scans from Jersey Shore). I was originally scheduled to have them done at MSKCC, but her office moved them to a nearby Oxford-affiliated facility. I have to drink that contrast stuff at 8 a.m. and I'll be scanned at 9 a.m. In addition to the regular chest/abdomen/pelvis scans, she's also ordered a special scan of my liver to see more clearly a hypodensity that appeared last time. She says it's nothing to worry about, but she just wants a better view of it. I'll get the results from her during an appointment later that day. No more waiting five days for the results.

My next appointment with Dr. Healey is in mid-September, and I think he'll be pleased with my progress. The hitch in my step is gone, although when my foot is painful I still tend to lock up my hip and knee. Yesterday was the only day since my surgery when I almost didn't feel as if I had had surgery at all. Today, I'm back to minimal awareness that all is not "right" but I'm hoping for more of those "normal" days as time goes by.

I'll try to remember to post here more often, perhaps even once a week to say there isn't anything new. I appreciate how many of you are still following this blog -- I didn't think it would be quite as popular as it has turned out to be.

Enjoy the rest of your summer and I'll definitely be back after my scan results next week.