Good Day!

Thought I would update all of you on what is going on with John and I. Yesterday was 12 weeks post-op. John is doing great. He has gained 10-12 LBS; he weighs in at 145-147 lbs (he is 6’ tall). His energy level is increasing (hemoglobin on the rise) and he is back at the gym most days. He is learning how to eat smaller amounts of food at one setting and to eat more frequently. John was the kind of person that would go all day without eating and then eats a very large dinner, so this is a big change but he has gotten the hang of it. John has not had any issues with dumping, just severe pain if he eats too much. He has a little more peep in his step and is back doing his normal daily activities. Today we went out for a late lunch and then bought a Christmas tree. Don’t want to rub it in (I know Eric mentioned how nice it is here in Florida) but I went Christmas tree shopping wearing Shorts, T-Shirt and sandals, got to love Florida weather in December. So we will start to decorate the house for Christmas. I thought of Niki the other day because when I got home from work (after dark) John had hung lights outside. I love Christmas lights. Years ago when we were at Christmas tree farm (in Michigan) I was discussing with John how we should hang up lights outside. John said to me “why should we do that we don’t have kids” I started to say something and a women standing next to us said how she did not have a lot of money and that she would take her children and ride around different neighbors looking at lights. She said how much she appreciated people that put them up for her children to enjoy. The next day John started hanging lights outside, and he has every year since then. Never thought when I heard EC in May, I would see John hanging lights this year. I have been reading everyone’s post but have not posted been very busy at work and been in the process of applying for a promotion (along with everything else I do all day). Well I am happy to tell you that I accepted a new position (promotion in the same company) on Thursday.
So I thought I would share all the good news with you my family. Six months ago I found out that my husband had stage three EC and today with the help of all of you and a very gifted medical team, John is doing marvelous. The way I made it through is with all of you out here cheering for John, giving me pep talks or letting me cry on your shoulder. William and Loretta helped me find the correct surgeon that did MIE surgery. Loretta got on the phone several times with me and walked me through what I needed to do. When I look back I still cannot believe how kind and wonderful total strangers (not any more) were to me. The people on the board helped save John’s life. The best thing about John having EC was finding all of you here. I have learned so much about life and the human sprit here, some very valuable lessons.
For all of you that are new here I hope my post gives you some hope.
Love to you all
Erica
Wife of John
Diagnosis-T-3, N-1,M-0-- 5-17-11
Chemo/Radiation-completed --7-11-11
MIE surgery with robotics-- 9-9-11
29 lymph nodes & tumor-cancer free