Not the Holiday News We Hoped to Share

David and I have been pretty silent this week because some stuff has come up that we weren't ready to talk about. Partly we wanted to get as much information as possible, and partly it was too painful to discuss.

Here's what has happened: they've found new tumor. This is of course hugely scary and discouraging just six weeks after finishing a very aggressive course of chemotherapy, which in turn followed a very extensive surgery. I've been having some pain and bowel issues, and my doc felt a tumor during an exam. PET and CT scans confirmed that there is a tumor on my colon, and suggested that others may be developing as well.

We will decide what to do about it after the holidays. The options include radiation or a clinical trial of a new drug therapy (not cytotoxic chemotherapy). Surgery has been ruled out. I will not return to work next quarter as planned.

This is a huge bummer.

David, the girls, and I leave for a five-day Caribbean cruise on Saturday. Doc has advised that we try to pack as much of this away as possible and enjoy the trip and being together. She has sanctioned liberal doses of alcohol as necessary (hah! even if I liked to drink, we are too miserly to get drunk at cruise ship prices). We will be incommunicado while on board; even though internet access can be purchased, we learned on our Galapagos trip how lovely it was to remove ourselves from the world for a bit. It seems especially useful now.