Jeff walking without the cane at the Post Office in Emmett, ID
Jeff walking their new dog at the vets office in Emmett, ID
Posted on 03/03/2011 12:27:49 PM PST by Jeff Head
I posted this on my site and on Facebook today, and thought I would add it here on FreeRepublic as so many good, good people have encouraged, helped, prayed for and exercised their faith on my behalf over this last year.
Here's my Update Number 32:
A little time has passed between this entry and my last one. During that time I have continued to make progress in my rehabilitation, and to continue to mentally and emotionally come to terms with my new life and condition.
As to my rehab, I am walking pretty much all the time now without any assisted device, including my cane. I am finding that I am getting more and more stamina as the weeks pass as to how long and how far I can walk, but progress and improvement are defintely being made, however slowly. I still have a bit of a hitch in my left hip as I walk, and it drops down when I take a step because there is continued weakness in that joint. There may always be. As time goes on and those muscles slowly build, it will improve. In addition, on my right side, my foot itself has a greater loss of sensation than my left and my calf muscle is weaker there. Getting up on tip toes still alludes me, but I am working with that every day as I go up and down the long stairs at work and again, making slow progress.
Here's links to a couple of videos of me walking in February without the cane around town:
It's really heartening for me to see these videos and then compare them to my progress last June and July (of 2010) as I came out of the hospital. Whenever I am frustrated or think the progrewss is too slow, I just compare the videos to see how far I have come.
One of the most important reasons for this update was because last week we went to Houston and MD Anderson Cancer Center for our next big checkup.
The flight down and sitting in airports and on the plane on those seats was not too comfrotable for me, and I had quite a bit of anxiety...more about the trip itself and dealing with my disabilities, particularly bladder and bowel function, away from home and in the hotel. But we did it, and my wonderful, dear, lovely wife, Gail was there for me, as she has unfailingly been throughout this entire process...along with the prayers, faith and love of so many friends, and I was able to get through all of that.
The MRIs, CT Scans, blood work and consultations all went GREAT! On Thursday, February 24th, we met with Dr. Rhines.
He was almost estatic and very excited as he explained to us, and then showed us on the computer the progress my bone fusions are making. The bone fusions are ahead of schedule and doing better than expected.
There was no new cancer in the surgical area or the soft tissue and this was a hugely positive and good report as you can imagine. I still have three very small areas of chordoma cancer in my hip bones (illium) but they were there when they discovered and removed the large tumor in my entire sacrum. The Dr. is not too worried about those, and did in fact see another very small spot on my illium that is similar. But they are all growing, if anything, slower than expected and are very slow growing to begin with...as in years.
In September, at the next checkup, we will determine how to treat those. If there are no more that arise, we will use stereo-tactical radiation, which is a very high dosage, focused very tightly and accurately at a very small area. That process can be done in a day or two once they get everything programmed and set up and has proven effective. If a bunch more show up, we would use the general proton radiation, which is much more broad and a longer term (7 weeks of treatment, twice a day, five days a week for seven weeks). It has also shown itself to be effective, particularly in retarding growth. We hope that is not necessary because there is risk of complications from it, particularly in weakening the bone.
Dr. Rhines and Gisella were very excited to see me walking and feel I am making very good progress there as well.
All in all it was a VERY positive report and trip. We went out and ate at Luby's Caferteria in celebration and it was very good. We retunred home on Friday, February 25th, 2011.
So, we are thankful to our Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ, for their tender mercies to us in these circumstances. It is not what I would have picked...but it has been for the best. Our love and faith and the faith of so many others has grown and that is one of the most important things that can happen in life...a price cannot be placed upon it.
Every circumstance we face, particularly the difficult ones, gives us the opportunity to grow more, to love more, and to develop our faith. It is what God intends for us and is what life is all about. I am thanksful for that knowledge and am secure in my faith of Jesus Christ and know that one day, in His time, we will all experience a glorious resurrection where the ills and sicknesses and ails of this world will be behind us, and we will benefit from the love, faith, and experiences we have had and that benefit will be forever.
In the mean time, I will continue to document this experience to all who will read it. Ultimately, perhaps starting soon, I intend to turn it into a book. I believe a book about all of this will benefit others as much as, and perhaps even more than these blogs. At any rate, that is my thinking at this point. It is called, "An Unforgiving Temper," by Gail Head. Here's the link:
God bless you all, and again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you all for your encouragement, your faith, your prayers, and your love.
Sincerely,
Jeff
Or...view the video on youtube by clicking on this link: WATCH AMERICA: A LAND OF PROVIDENCE
A willingness to express these sentiments as a people, and to live according to them, is what produced our heavenly inspired Constitution and allowed us to prosper accordingly these many years.
We depart from it at the peril of our liberty, and ultimately at the peril of our very life.
Hi Jeff,
Hadn’t heard anything in a long time and was glad to get this update.(I don’t do Facebook).
Sounds as though you are doing as well as can be expected..and then some! I know this journey has been hard for you and we Freepers have all got your back...in more ways that one! :-)
I have been one of your biggest fans and supporters since Day one. and I will continue to pray for your recovery.
We need patriots like you to strengthen our resolve and faith in America during these difficult times.
Best regards, Mountain Mary
God Bless Jeff! (and Gail)
To quote one of today’s great philosophers, Charlie Sheen:
The scoreboard don’t lie, bro! You are winning... Duh.
Keep strong.
Wonderful news - Continued Prayers -
Wonderful update. Prayers continue of course.
He said that "All things work together for the good of them that love the Lord,"
He said, "Come unto me ALL ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest,"
All things and all people mean just that. Whether it is easy or difficult, what we perceive to be good or hard...they will work for us (and for His Kingdom) if we will simply love Him and acknowledge His hand in it.
...and He will definitely give us peace and rest to get through it. I know and testify that these things are so and true!
Amen bro! I will do just exactly that and testify of that faith with every breath I take!
And how it reflects on and is indespinsable with our liberty and way of life.
Amen...in actuality, we do know each other. Our faith and posts and discussions and views and the values we hold tie us together. As the Apostle Paul wrote, we “are no more strangers or foreigners,” but we are members of a family, a family of Americans dedicated to the ideals and fundamental moral values that make this nation and our way of life!
She gotr me hooked on Jane Austen years ago...and heck, I've been hooked on her for 33 years and she has been my angel. So, as you can see I am somewhat biased, but being biased does not mean the bias is not well founded and well deserved.
Anyhow, I'm very proud of her to have completed this and got it out there even while we have been going through all we have and she has been providing me the constant and angelic care she has.
Thank you...for the prayers and the encouragement. I cannot express how much they all mean...and you are exactly right. The progress may be slow, but it comes and can be amply seen over a period of time of weeks and months!
Thanks Bill...yep, one halting foot after another...and not with a lot of stamina...but slow and steady is the word!
Thanks for the update, Jeff ... glad to see you up and moving around!!
Prayers continue, Jeff.
You have made huge progress.
Every day is a blessing.
Thank you MAry for those kind words...and your prayers and faith. I know our country is turning...I can feel it and you can see it in the faces and attitudes of the people standing up all over this nation. I am glad to see it and hope to see the tide swing fully in 2012 and stay that way so we can restablish and restore our Constitutional Republic to its intended course, so that it remains the beacon of hope for peace and liberty throughout the world and the source from whence the fundamental values upon which ture liberty rests spread abroad...including the gospel of Jesus Christ, freely lived and spread by a large majority of our people.
Amen to that...each and every day is a blessing. Thank you!
1. We are not dealing with honorable men.
2. The rule of law has been systematically set aside, ignored and crumpeled up like a piece of paper and thrown in the trash. The failures to investigate egregious fraud and corruption; the failures to prosecute what would, in a better day, be regarded as treason or criminal conspiracy; the blatant and in-your-face racism of the DOJ; local LEOs refusing to even see aggravated assaults on women and youngsters committed by 0bamas 'civilian defense force' (I think we know who they are, now) - these are not signs of a vital and healthy republic. These are the harbingers of the fall of a republic.
3. Having been stung in 2010 by what is to them, an unaccountable refusal of the country class to cheer the chains being forged for us, I have no doubt that, short of an overwhelming Reaganesque landslide, our erstwhile masters will not abide by the results any more than they respect the rule of law, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
We're dealing with monsters, Jeff - killers without conscience. Would that we could turn them out with the results of an election. but they'er not playing by any sort of civilized rules, and their aims are nightmares.
I know...and everything you say is true as is that great essay. But they underestimate what free men and women are capable of once we are awakened to the state of affairs as we are now...and they do not include God in HEaven in their reckoning.
I pray we canb get it back peacefully and will do all I can to help make that happen...but, even in my weakened state, will not stand by and let them trample the constitution any longer or try and either avoid the election that is coming, or not abide it when it arrives.
5.56mm
Keep on keepin on Jeff!
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