Up and Down days

Just to give you a little update on Mark...

He seems to be healing well. He is still having quite a bit of pain, mostly in the front of his head. The doctor predicted some pretty severe headaches while things are getting back to "normal".

His spirits are pretty good most of the time but I know he's impatient to get better. He has lived with the pain from this for a long time and he's ready to get past it and move on with his life. You know Mark, he's not used to anything slowing him down, even when he was battling cancer he was never down for long. This has been a little different. It isn't something he can muscle through. He's learning to take one day at a time, even if it's slow progress, and keep looking to the future.

I know he appreciates everyone who has shown concern and checks in on him. We have been overwhelmed by everyones  generosity and thoughtfulness. It's comforting to know we are surrounded by  so many family and friends who genuinely love us and are concerned for us.

For those of you who don't really know much about Mark's condition, it's called "Chiari Malformation". You can click HERE to learn more about it.

He basically had the decompression surgery which is described HERE.


This isn't Mark's case exactly but it is basically. He has what's called a "Chiari malformation" which probably caused "Hydrocephalus" or too much fluid in the brain. They think he was probably born with it. The doctor explained that is probably has effected him his whole life but he just learned to compensate for it. We believe the stress from his condition could have been related to both cancers and other medical problems he has encountered through the years.

He is looking forward to healing from this and moving ahead to a bright future that is pain free!

A few people have asked about the boys and how they are doing with this. I would say they are doing pretty well. I know even though neither really talked about their concerns or asked many questions before the surgery, it was weighing on them. As someone pointed out to me, after the doctor came out and told us everything went well and Mark was doing good she noticed a visible relief in both their faces and demeanor. They have both seen their dad go through a lot and they know he is strong.

It was a long day and by the time they saw him is was 8:30pm. As I wrote about before he was still coming out of the anesthesia and on many other meds so wasn't quite himself. I think it was good for them to see him cracking jokes and being a little silly. They are both very conscious of the fact that he is still healing and life may not be back to normal for them for awhile but they are troopers. I'm pretty proud of both of them!