The last week of November Steve had another CT Scan and went to see his oncologist. He received a good report - no new spots on his scan. All looks good as far as the cancer is concerned. Steve will have 2 out-patient procedures this month. On December 21st he will be at Kennestone Hospital. He now has a gastroenterologist and a stoma nurse who will be helping him care for his feeding tube. The area around the tube has been infected several times and continues to give Steve problems. They will be removing that one (OUCH!), checking for ulcers, doing a colonoscopy and giving Steve a new tube. This new one will not have a tube coming out of his stomach but instead will be a sort of port. The whole will stay closed until he is ready to "eat" and then he can open it, insert a tube and get his nutrition/medicines. This will be painful, but will be a good thing since the tube constantly gets in the way and is painful.
The second procedure will be more involved. On December 31st Steve's oral surgeon will be operating on his tongue. The plan is to cut a piece out on the right side of his mouth "untether" it from the gum line. The purpose of this is to hopefully allow them to put in implants for his teeth. They say this will be out patient, but I have my doubts.
Steve has a prosthetic piece that he puts in the roof of his mouth to help improve his speech. It is a work in progress as they change it each visit to find the best fit. It seems to be helping a little. Steve is still not able to swallow. With a lot of effort and work he can swallow a little bit of water, but has not progressed past that point. He is in good spirits though and is handling all of this life changes extremely well.
Steve is currently trying to keep his roofing company up and running. The competition is fierce around here, but he has had a little success. He is a hard worker and is not one to give up!
The girls are doing well. They just keep growing up. Becca is busy with her singing - in Chorus and at church. She is working on getting the youth praise band started again at church. She has a new boyfriend who is a very nice young man. I just can't believe she is growing up so soon - she will be driving on her own in February!
Alli is very involved with the band and chorus at school. In fact, the band is performing at UGA tonight! She is playing volleyball to. She is getting that teenager attitude - UGH!
I will do my best to keep this blog updated again, especially during Steve's upcoming procedures. Please continue to keep Steve in your prayers and know that you are in ours. God bless you all. Enjoy this glorious holiday season with your family and friends.
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