MICHAEL'S JOURNEY

Friends and Family,

Thank you for interest and prayers as I go forward battling this parasite that has invaded me. I will be using this format as a form of communicating with all of you for updates and any news. I do not plan on keeping this or having to use it for any long period of time.

Just a quick recap.

Surgery to remove the tumors in my bladder went well on 8/15. Although I did not have any conversation post-surgery, my surgeon Dr John Tillett, who was somewhat pessimistic before surgery explained to Susan that he was in fact able to remove almost 75%-80% of the tumor. He did not want to press too much closer to the bladder wall as that would create a real problem. In previous CT scans there also was indication of the tumor in the kidney path which was reflecting blood labs that indicated high glucose and creatinine levels which would be indicators of diabetes. Scans of the kidneys (and all of my other internal organs) showed no signs of any problems. Dr Tillet indicated in his surgery notes that his plan after tumor removal was to add a tube to the kidney (stint) to clear the flow of the kidney in question to the bladder. He was not able to find the opening during surgery so that was not done.

I came out of surgery pretty well but after a little Oxycodone, Fentanyl, and Delanda I was moved to the wheelchair and hopped in Susans car and went home to her house only a 5-minute drive from Porter Hospital. However, the catheter was not removed and I still have it as I am writing this.

I have a surgical follow up appointment later this afternoon and should have that removed. There were high levels of blood and urine flowing through Saturday but as of Monday it’s been very clear and void of any signs of blood or clots. Urinating was painful initially but that is now somewhat manageable.

No pathology report I know of as of yet. Maybe today.

As some of you may know I am also working with Health First which is a functional and alternative medicine clinic which specializes in strengthening immune systems before and after treatments and I have started testing with Dr Singer and look forward to continuing that journey asap.

Thank you again all for your prayers and overall positive vibes, suggestions, websites, you tube videos etc. I read them all and have had great take aways from them. Feel free to continue to send them and ask any questions you may have. If there is any email addresses that want to be added to this, please let me know that as well.

Done 4 now! – Mike