My surgery (splenectomy) on February 3rd went really, really well. It was scheduled to last four hours but only took two. The spleen and tumor were removed, I lost very little blood, and only needed to stay in the hospital three days. I'm home now (where we're housesitting) and am feeling stronger and have less pain every day.

On Thursday my oncologist shared with me the good news that all the tests they've run indicate that I am now cancer free. I'm scheduled to have a CT scan done in early June and be tested again in November.

Connie and I are thrilled beyond words. To tell the truth, I'm still somewhat in shock. Given the size of the tumor, I think all of us, including my doctor, assumed that there was still active cancer in there. But the tests and biopsy were definitive: no lymphoma, just a huge mass of necrotic tissue (dead cells). The six rounds of R-CHOP chemotherapy (every other week in October and November) apparently did the job.

Connie and I will be hitting the road again on March 1st. Thanks to the generosity of others, we are scheduled to stay in a dozen really beautiful retreat locations all over the United States this year:

March 2-18: Nevada City, California
March 22 - April 5: Vail, Colorado
April 7-9: Cincinnati, Ohio
April 13-26: Scarsdale, New York
April 28 - May 13: Woodsfield, Ohio
May 20 - June 16: Luddington, Michigan
June 18 - July 20: Canandaigua, New York
July 21 - August 5: Madison, Wisconsin
August 1-9: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
August 10 - September 3: Durango, Colorado
October 18 - November 30: Prouts Neck, Maine
December 1 - December 31: Waynesville, North Carolina

While we will be doing some speaking (within a 2-hour radius of these locations), we expect to mostly work on creative projects this year, such as developing educational curricula and online courses, and writing another book.

Those wishing to help further our work can do so here. Your support is greatly appreciated!

And if you've not already done so, do check out our podcasts here. As you can see and hear, even in the midst of dealing with cancer these last five and a half months, we've been having entirely too much fun!

Co-evolutionary blessings,

~ Michael

[Posted February 13, 2010]