Al finally got his port taken out yesterday. It would have been taken out sooner, but he had a lump on his chest that needed further investigation. He was referred to a surgeon that said it was basically a cyst, which she removed yesterday along with the port. His chest is wrapped in an ace bandage to prevent swelling and the bandage is itching him, but he isn't complaining of pain.
We have more good news. He found a new job and starts on Monday! It looks like 2009 will be much better.

Al has been declared cancer free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He feels and looks great. You would never guess what he has been through. We are having a little surprise party for him this afternoon. I've got some friends and neighbors coming over before he returns from work. I just made some last minute calls to try and put something together for us to celebrate.

The test results from the procedure the other day were good. The doctor said there was some erosion in the stomach, which might be the beginning of an ulcer. He gave him a prescription for that. That was good news. Meanwhile, Al had an interview yesterday and mine is today! The girls are so happy about school.

We saw the gastrointestinal doctor last week and he scheduled and upper and lower GI for Al. It'll be next week, which just happens to be the first day of school for the girls. We'll have to run to the hospital after we drop them off at school. The doctor said that Al shouldn't still be anemic since treatment ended over 4 months ago. They are looking to see if he has some kind of internal bleed that is causing the iron deficiency.
The job search is going well. The house has been up for sale for over a week now and we haven't had any showings.
The girls earned their yellow belts in karate. They are very excited.

In addition to all of the medical drama, Al is now looking for a new job. He just received notification that his department is closing down. He has just a few months to find something. Also, the nurse from the kidney disease office called to tell us that his creatinine levels are still rising and he will also have to see a Gastrointestinal doctor to determine why he is still anemic and has an iron deficiency. What next?

I forgot to write about the physical therapy Al has been getting for his swollen neck. He finished 5 treatments so far and will probably continue to go for at least 2more weeks. His therapist said she may only be able to see him once next week because 2 of her 3 children need to have their tonsils removed. Of course Al told her he wished he had gotten his removed a long time ago too! Anyway, she said his neck is starting to get softer, so that means it's getting ready to drain. I can't really tell yet. It still feels really hard to me and I don't think it looks that different yet either. But, it's probably still too early to tell.
I'm almost finished cleaning out the closet. Al said he wants to give away his big clothes because he doesn't plan on returning to that size again. I kept some of the in between sizes, just in case. The really big ones are out. It was weird folding those clothes. 50 lbs is a huge weight loss. He went down 2 pant sizes. He is eating more these days, but he is determined to stay slim. He wants to start exercising again too because he wants to build up some strength. He hurts himself easily these days. He was in excruciating pain last weekend and thinks it was sciatic nerve pain, which he hasn't complained about in over 5 years. He did used to have days where he couldn't get out of bed, but that was a long time ago. It was a good thing we still have so much pain medicine in the house! He was really hurting. He was actually going to get therapy for it, but then it just subsided the other day.

There is good news and bad news. I haven't actually wanted to write since we saw the kidney specialist. I don't know what we were expecting, but it seems worse than we had imagined. They stage the disease from 1-5, and the doctor feels that Al is stage 3. There will be some additional tests next week and a follow up appointment next month. Basically, all the doctor told us was that there isn't any treatment available, so the goal is to keep the disease from progressing. They don't know why he has this, but feels it has been going on for some time. On the way home, Al said he was never sick a day in his life before all of this.
The good news is that he is feeling better. He said he thinks his saliva glands are starting to work again. He has only been getting up maybe once a night for a sip of water over the past 2 weeks. Before then, is was several times a night.