One Year Anniversary

A year ago today, Enrique's doctor discovered the lump in his neck that turned out to be cancer.

Coincidentally, he had an appointment with the same doctor today.

It's been a long year.

But I'm so glad he spent that year getting treated, rather than letting the cancer continue to grow, undetected.

If you haven't had a physical in over a year, schedule one today.

One Thing He Doesn't Need to Worry About

A lot of people have asked how Enrique's work has treated him during this time. They've been fantastic.

Individually and as a whole, they've been very supportive and encouraged him to focus on getting better rather than worrying about work.

Also, his health insurance, which they provide, has been surprisingly good.

Radiation Treatment

Enrique's radiation treatment was postponed for a week because his doctor had a family emergency.

On Thursday we should know the basic schedule for the treatment. It begins with a course of injections that will cause any remaining thyroid tissue to become thirsty for iodine. Then they'll give him a big dose of radioactive iodine, which the thyroid tissues will absord. Hopefully the radiation will cause the tissue to die.

He'll need to be alone in our house for 4-7 days. I'll stay with a friend to avoid the radiation.

The whole process should take 2-4 weeks.

Ups and Downs

Enrique's thyroid medication has been adjusted again and that creates a fair amount of disruption in his mood and body.

Mostly, however, he is doing well and feeling good.

That said, he does get regular hot flashes and fatigue. He often moody and down. Once the new, higher levels of hormones stabilize, he should be feeling better.

A Quick Trip Home

Enrique had a brief window between doctors appointments and was able to take a quick, restorative trip home to Mexico.

I've had the chance to eat some of his mother's food and I know it's healing power. I'm not joking.

It was the first time he's seen his parents in more than a year and half that didn't involve a trip to the hospital.

He came back more relaxed than I've seen him since before his diagnosis.

Scar 3.0

Enrique's bandage fell off a couple nights ago.

The scar looked awful. Bigger than before and red and swollen.

"It looks like a caterpillar crawled into my neck and died."

It really did look like something out of a B-movie. We were both pretty disturbed.

I was really pissed off that no one mentioned that the scar would be bigger.

A couple days later, the swelling and redness are much reduced. Also, I think it's actually the same size that it was before.

In fact, the scar looks thinner and straighter than the previous scar - which Enrique's surgeon told us to expect.

(She cut out the old scar and pulled the skin together.)

Once it has healed, it shouldn't be that visible.