I am happy to report that Emmett is doing great. He is eating all his food by mouth now so he can get his peg out at his 12/19 follow-up visit. They told him it had to either come out or be moved in Dec. and that was all the motivation he needed! He has been surprised how well he is able to eat his food! (it does take a long time, the peg was so easy) He is a different man that I have spend the last 40 years of marriage with but the pain of this past year have now developed into a new loving relationship. So there is hope for all of you wondering and scared of what the future holds. Hang on. I truly believe beyond the emotions, the meds (which he weaned himself off of) caused a lot of the anger and personality changes that were so hard to handle.

On a different note I have spent the last two weeks back at Mayo Clinic with my niece, (29 & single) who is like our own daughter, she has stage 4 cervical cancer. So I will be there most of Dec. being her caregiver. I remember thinking what will we be doing next Christmas when we were there last year never dreaming of this. She really needs prayers! And so do we as I know it will be hard for Emmett to be alone at home, 10 hours away as much as he wants me to be with her to support her. She has a very difficult road ahead. Thank you.

Hi Karen,

Congratulations on the wonderful news about Emmett. I'm happy to hear that things are evening out and your relationship is strong.

I'm terribly sorry to hear about your niece. I'll keep her, you and Emmett in my prayers. She is blessed to have you as her caregiver. Please remember the sage advice to caregivers: take some time to do something nice for yourself. You have poured so much into Emmett's care over the past year that it would be understandable for you to come up empty now and then. Take time to recoup your energy and bolster your spirit.

You are back on the front lines. My heart is with you.

Sandy
xoxox