Overwhelming support!

Both Kim and I are taken aback by the tidal wave of emails, phone calls, cards, well-wishes, love, support, prayers, fasting, and offers to help that we have received from friends, family, and coworkers, from both near and far. It is truly humbling and a great source of strength and peace. Thank you so much to everyone. We can feel the power of your prayers in our behalf.

Talking to cancer survivors has given me a taste of the rough road ahead, but I hope my long distance cycling experience, my competitive drive, and my will to stay here in mortality with my family as long as possible will aid me in hanging in there when the going gets tough. That said, the bottom line is, all flesh is in His hands, as the Savior of the World production reminded us.

I had the Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (abbreviated to EGD) procedure today. It was just like my Dad said about his EGD, they sprayed my throat with a numbing spray, placed the tube inside my throat, asked me to generate a swallow reflex to get the tube into the esophagus, then injected the anesthesia into the IV and thats all I remember until waking up in recovery. The doc says I have several superficial stomach ulcers (cat scratches he called them- we joked that they were from the CATscan) which he is treating with esomeprazole (Nexium). The after effects of the anesthesia seemed to last longer this time than on Tuesday with the colonoscopy. Kim said that nurse said to not drive till Monday! We'll see how I feel tomorrow. I've got things to get done before dealing with weeks of surgical recovery and months of chemo. Here are the photos taken during the EGD.

I rode my bike to work this morning, perhaps for the last time in a long while. I took the scenic route through the hills of North Tustin and along Portola Blvd. Even though it was foggy, it was nice. The fog obscured most of the visual damage caused by the Santiago fire, but I could sure smell the nearby charred foothills. I'm really going to miss that time cycling alone in the outdoors, enjoying the exercise and the endorphins. I'm already grieving the loss.