Hi all --

Barry and I got back last night -- almost midnight, arggh! -- from Mexico -- 9 days birding, some of it in pretty rugged terrain in the Sierra Madres. He did great, it was our 10-years' younger friend who could barely make it up the Barranca Rancho Liebre trail. Barry agrees that his energy level is pretty much back to normal and that maybe the 15 pounds he shed during treatment made it easier to slog up and down the mountains.

He had to avoid spicy foods which he still can't handle, but otherwise ate pretty much normally except for dry, hard things like corn chips. It's a dry climate, he drank a lot and chewed his gum and was OK. Salivary function not as it was but bearable and hopefully, it will continue to improve over time.

A good trip because Barry now knows that he *can* travel and do the things he loved to do before the cancer. Which was one of his main fears before starting treatment.

Couple more appointments with doctors at Hopkins in next few months, and he plans to enter a HPV vaccine trial, probably in March. Butmostly, he wants to get on with his life and try to spend every moment worrying about the future...

Gail