Update from Craig

Just wanted to give you an update on Michele and I. For the past few days I have been coughing a lot. My 5 incisions have been healing, however because of all of the coughing I've been doing, some of them are leaking. Last night one of my sons gave me a blessing and I took some decongestant and I was able to sleep so much better without all of the coughing. I'm surprised at how long it is taking me to get back to normal, but I keep progressing one day at a time.

Michele has had difficulty breathing the last 5 days. Last Wednesday she had a chest xray which showed fluid around the lung. (this is when she found out that it had cancer cells in it). The doctor gave her the option to get it drained that day and put off starting chemotherapy, or waiting a few days and seeing if the liquid would dissapate by itself. She decide to wait.

Today we went in for another chest xray and saw that there was even more liquid. So they ordered her to have a Thoracentesis (draining of the liquid around the lung). She had this done in the hospital just before she came home and it wasn't near as painful as it was today. They used an ultra-sound machine to navigate their way just around the lung - to make sure not to puncture it. They extracted 2 liters of fluid and had to stop because of the pain and discomfort it was causing Michele! We are hoping that this will give her some added comfort as she continues with her chemotheraphy this week. Thanks again for your prayers and concerns. We want you to know that we have felt the love from so many, which will help us be able to tackle the trials ahead.