Day 347, Year 8: Strike that. Reverse it.
Date: Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Weather: Overcast and Misty
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
“We have so much time and so little to see. Wait a minute. Strike that. Reserve it.” This is one of my favorite quotes from the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie from 1971. And it fits our situation right now. Yesterday we were headed to Puerto Rico for the winter. Today we had to scrap that plan and make new plans for staying here. Mark met with his oncologist this morning to review the results of yesterday’s CT scan. Unfortunately his cancer has returned. They found a small growth in the fatty tissue of the abdominal cavity. This will mean either surgery or chemo or both, but whatever, we will be staying right here for the winter. Well, we won’t be staying here in Eel Pond. Hopefully we will be able to return to Fiddler’s Cove where we spent the winter of 2011-2012. Mark has to have a PET scan next Tuesday and then the surgeon and oncologist will decide on a plan of action. They are also getting his colon cancer tumor out of cold storage and doing some genetic testing to see if it has a specific marker that would make it react to specific drugs. Mark couldn’t believe they keep all removed tumors in cold storage, but they do.
Mark amazes me with his positive outlook even though he is tremendously disappointed that he can’t sail south. He is definitely not looking forward to a cold winter, but he’s ready to battle this thing.
