Words from Dennis

We had a great Turkey Day, here at the homestead. Or to be more accurate, a great, Turduckin Day. For the past few years, we have cooked a professionally prepared dish called a Turduckin, which is a turkey, with a duck inside of it, with a chicken inside of it. It has no bones in it and the variety of the three meats is a nice variety. Cooked just like a regular turkey, it is very moist and delicious. Highly recommended.

Family assembled in force, with Darcy, his son Niles and friend Erica coming down from Boston, sister Kay from Hawaii, Steffen and Elizabeth up from North Carolina. Missing was Gary, but he was here in spirit and we had a nice phone chat with him.

Everybody fixed their favorite dishes and it was a real feast. Tasha put in her contribution of pumpkin pie, apple pie, and apple crisp. What a way she has with baking. Deeelisssshhhhh.
Weather was mixed, but didn't dampen anybody's enthusiasms. Still working on the leftovers tonight (Friday night).

We've had good fun playing pool, eating, backgammon, eating leftovers, going for walks, Darcy on the piano, more food, hilarious games on the Wii, and, of course, the snacking on leftovers.

A wonderful time, all around.

On the health front:
I continue to improve and recover from my two week stay in the hospital. It is slower going than I would prefer but it is steady. Food during the Thanksgiving time has tasted good and the nausea has been kept to a minimum. I am able to dress myself, fix meals and get around the house. I can't drive a car yet, because of the narcotics for pain control. My stamina and strength are still very low. I can walk up a flight of stairs, slowly, but by the time I get to the top, I have to stop and rest.

Next week we will do another CT scan and see what progress the tumor has made. It has been growing, no doubt, since I have been off treatment, and we need to get back into combat mode to try to shrink this thing again. The difficulty is that the treatment itself really beats me up and I'm not sure I'm strong enough yet to withstand the chemo. We are now finished with radiation and can't do any more on this body.

I have been having trouble with swelling in my ankles and lower legs. It doesn't really hurt, but does give us concern, in watching out for blood clots, fluid retention, etc. I am wearing support stockings (very stylish) which do help, and I try to keep my legs elevated as much as I can. They are pretty funny looking, since they are white. When I am wearing just the support hose, without pants, I look like that painting of King Louis the 14th (I think) by either Ingres or David (I think), wearing his panty hose outfit. What a dandy.

I have a nurse come in once a week to check on me and make sure we are tending me correctly and that things are going well. Since I still have a tube sticking out of my stomach, we have to watch for infection, and make sure the bandages aren't leaking too much. Rebecca is still doing a fantastic job on the home care. I couldn't do it without her.

I hope to get back to full energy at the office sometime soon. I do what I can from home, keeping up with emails, advising students if necessary, writing recommendations and occasional reports.