Hi everybody!!! Short and sweet tonight.
Al didn't sleep great last night -- I blame nerves; he's made up for it today. The bronchoscopy was short and sweet as well. Evidently Al had quite the coughing jag after they spritzed his throat to deaden it, so Dr. Berquist had a hard time getting the scope in. He's still quite swollen and reddened, which Dr. B attributes to the radiation, and said that will continue to get better as time passes. He was only able to do a 'brief' exam, which showed his airway is much clearer, which the doc says is 'very encouraging'.
When I asked about the biopsy, he looked at me like I was from another planet. "There's no need; we know the tumor is cancerous." He said it should continue to shrink -- for 2-6 MONTHS -- from the radiation and chemo, and wants to do another bronch in 2-3 months, once the redness and swelling has reduced further. He was amazed at how much more activity Al's doing now -- like riding his bike AT ALL, let alone across town and back (I didn't tell him about mowing the lawn!) -- and reminded me that in April, he couldn't even walk across Lowe's without getting winded.
Al expected nothing less, if you listen to him. You know better when you look at him! So I am 'guardedly optimistic'. Seems this is the first GOOD news we've had about this tumor, and I frankly don't know how to react to good news yet. I'll let you know what we hear from Dr. Beck on Thursday.
Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. Seems it's really working!!!
xoxoxo
Sharon
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