Had a guy remark to me last week, "You're looking great. How do you feel?" I thought on that, and finally replied. "If I told you I feel great, I'd be lying, but, I'm still "feeling" and that's great!"
Honestly, I still have to remind myself that where I am is so much better that where I have been and so, so much better that where I could be.
I was doubly reminded of that the last coupla of days. I had "met" the mother of man who had esophageal cancer as like me. Has all the same doctors. And yesterday, he had his surgery. Visiting him yesterday reminded me (again) how blessed I am. He is doing great. (And I use that term "in context" because laying in a hospital bed having been flayed ain't fun Magee!") Seeing him lying there and listening to the experiences that he was having brought back a flood of memories that I had "deep sixed." Wow, that was not a fun time. Makes me realize that dealing with not being to be able to gain weight and "grow" my energy are minor problems. Plus trying to figure out what my FPC is going to do!
Lost my buddy Tommy T last week. Tough. He was one of those great guys. He was great friend and a dentist. What I like to say about Tom is that he lived his life "in the plural." Tom's life was never about Tom. First, and foremost, it was about his sweetie of over 40 years, Patti. Then is was about his family. His Mom and Dad, until he lost them, then his son, daughter in law and his two grandboys, plus his sister. And, it was his team at work. No one ever worked "for" him, they worked "with" him. Then there was the charity work that he did. Was a Rotarian for more years than I know. Plus, he was a founding member of the Lawn Chair Drill Team, of which I had the honor of being there with him. (And that may be a chapter for another day.) Tommy had a great Baptist upbringing like I did. Met and accepted the Lord years ago and I'm confident that he's in a much happier place right now. Knowing that makes it easier for those of us who loved him.
Please keep me and my buddy Jimmy D, who is doing well I might add, and now my cancer journey partner Gary C. Obviously what you have been doing is working and I love you all for it.
God is good.

Everything going as planned. Feeling great, working, playing but still really enjoying an occasional "rest." FPU slowly but surely coming around and adjusting to have food flow thru it. Some days I really want to eat and then there are the others. But, I can't complain because I sleep great and I have Lynda with me almost all the time and I have Deb and Ed and two of my wonderful grandkids close all the time. OK, that brings up a story that I have to tell, about yesterday. I may have shared with you that I set as a goal, running a 5 K on April 10, when I started my rehab in January. If you could have seen me then you (as well as all my friends who did see me) would have thought I was crazy, and perhaps I was. (As an "aside" here, I believe one works harder at what one does if on has a goal, regardless how small or ridiculous.) Well, yesterday was the day, and with the encouragement of Lynda (plus Debbie, Claire and Clay went with me) I did it. The kids ran the 1 K which was at 8 AM and I chugged off on my 5 K at 8:30. The furtherist I have run since Jan. 1 was 1 1/2 miles so I had no idea how well my energy would hold up. I had worked my mile time down to 12:20 but that was only one time. Thought the first mile marker would never come. My whole body was tight as a drum. Finally it appeared and I began to relax and I didn't feel as bad as I thought I would. Time for that mile was less that 13 minutes. Surprise to me. Clicked on thru the second mile the same way and now I'm feeling confident. Third mile was the fastest of all, 12:32 and with a good push the last 1/10 of a mile I "beat" the 40 minute mark. And then the "crowning achievement" was that there were only three people in my age group (70-99) and I got a third place trophy. I had been discussing my last year with the guy that handles the timing of the race (that I've known for about 25 years) why he had not seen me in over a year and it turned out he was handling the trophy presentation and he mentioned my challenge to the crowd and my grandkids said, "Pops, your famous. Everybody knows you and likes you." Put tears in my eyes!
Came home from the race and then Lynda and I went to visit our buddy, which you all have been praying for, Tommy T and I'm sorry to report that it looks like he will be received by the Lord in the next few days. I'm proud to report that he and I shared our childhood experiences, which were very similar in our Baptist upbringing, and he is a Christian. We will celebrate his life. God is good.

Last time I said, "Hurdle # 2", what was I thinking? I've been hurdling obstacles ever since this deal started!
Yesterday, the chemo Doc validated the results of a great scan. No changes, except for the better. More info on that later. Will come back in 60 days and if everything is still the same then we pull the chemo port. Man, let me tell you, that's my goal for now. God is good!
Keep my pals Jimmy D, Tommy T and now Ronnie R, in your prayers.