Home One Month

Jon has been home from Mexico for one month now and we see some marked improvement in his energy and well-being. We are learning so much with regard to nutrition and food and we are trying to follow very exact instructions we received in Mexico for diet. Jon eats three full meals a day. Breakfast always includes hot cereal, fresh fruit, main entre of eggs and toast, French toast, or pancakes/waffle, and fruit drink. Lunch and dinner always include homemade soup, chicken or fish, green salad or steamed vegetables. Every meal includes a "green drink". In the middle of the afternoon he has a protein drink with a snack, such as an energy bar, fruit, vegies with dip, wheat tortilla chips with salsa or guacamole, crackers and cheese, or yogurt and granola.

Preparing all this has become a part-time job. When buying groceries, everything is checked for ingredients. All sugar, processed white flour, preservatives, and red meat are not allowed in the diet. Boy, we could all be losing weight on this diet BUT since being home, Jon has put on 8 pounds!! His energy level is much better, although he still tires easily. He works a few hours every day; thank goodness for great help and winter schedule.

Had an appointment with the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) a few weeks ago and it proved very informative as we move forward on finding the source of cancer, exactly what kind of cancer Jon is dealing with and how aggressive it is. New knowledge will help in determining what kind of treatment to pursue. The doctor was a very nice woman, liver specialist, who didn't really want to hear about what went on in Mexico. She admited Jon looked great, in fact she was quite surprised to see him looking so good from the facts she had seen in his file. However, she did ask how they did liver hyperthermia, a liver specialist who had no idea how to heat the liver. Before we left, she asked us to keep an open mind to chemotherapy in the future even though Jon had such a horrible experience. She was kind enough to give us her direct office number in case we needed to chat in the future.

We have had Jon's family visiting since his return home. His brother Doug came from Maryland and was here for great company, help and advice. Also his mother and two sisters came down from Idaho and we had lots of hugs and laughs.