Improving....

It seems that we are seeing some improvement. Mike was beginning to have food getting stuck again around the first week of September and we called to schedule an appointment for the procedure to be done in Houston by Dr. Stroehlein (as Dr. Bismar recommended). We had a delay of about a week. Then we had another delay with the scheduling people because we asked about putting a stint in. But in the mean time, (God's timing again) Mike began eating and swallowing better without food continuing to get stuck. When the physician's office called us back, Mike didn't seem to need a dilation as much as he had the 2 weeks before. They also told us that they don't put stints in except in extreme cases. So we will wait and see but we are encouraged. No weight gain as yet, but no more loss either. M.D. Anderson will schedule us to go back at the end of December to do a PET Scan and an EGD with biopsy. If he needs dilation at that time they will do it while they are in there.

We have no idea what is going on with the ulcerated place.

Pray for continued healing of the ulcer, his weight gain, and praise God with us for the successful swallowing. We are so very thankful.

Also, on the last blog post, someone left a comment. The name was Tammie and her husband Marc had survived Esph. Cancer for 11 years or more. I tried to contact you on your e-mail, but I couldn't get it to go through. If you see this, please leave me a better way of communication, I would love to talk with you. Your comments were encouraging.

I do apologize to all of you who keep checking the blog to find out what is going on. I'm sorry it has been over a month, but the delay this time has given us time to see a turn in the swallowing, which makes us think the scar tissue has slowed down or quit developing. This may not be much but it is significant to us. If our Awesome God knows the number of hairs on our head (Matthew 10:30), then we are sure He knows the millimeters of Mike's esophagus and we believe He has added some to it. Thank You, LORD, for the small things like a millimeter or two, which really are Big things to some people. :)

Thank you all for caring and praying for us.

Much love,

Jan, for the family