And so it is...

Hello everybody! I have been a horrible, horrible blogger. Work and stress and cancer sure do suck up a lot of time.

Mark is doing well! For the most part at least. Since we last spoke, Mark was battling some swelling from the surgery. Since then, he's been diagnosed with lymphadema (read about it if you're interested but it's not my favorite topic). Basically because a bunch of lymph nodes were removed, his leg swells. He went to physical therapy for awhile, and has wraps and bandages to wear when his leg starts to swell. For the most part, his leg only stays about 7% bigger than the other one, which is not very noticeable. Mark says his male modeling days are over.

Also, he has been going to immunotherapy. For the month of January, he went 5 times a week and got an IV with the medicine. Now, he has to go to the hospital 3x a week for shots in the belly. He has an unattractive nurse that is really good, and a hot nurse that stabs him in the belly so hard it hurts for days. I vote for the unattractive nurse.

The medicine is for the most part ok, and doesn't make him vomit a lot, but makes him super tired, and never hungry, and therefore weak. It's kind of a bad combination and I assumed it would have worn off by now and he would be used to it, but it's still pretty hard on him. He's lost a bunch of weight, but is still remaining very positive.

Mark's taking the bar this July, so we can't make our annual trip down south with the Malbrough clan. While I am extremely depressed about this, I suppose I will deal. I'm on the lookout for other vacations in August.

Don't read this blog and think, "man, Mark and Kim are boring!" We've had some adventures in the past 4 months that's for sure. Mark and I not only celebrated the best New Years Eve Ever watching Robert Randolph at the House of Blues with VIP seating, but we also celebrated 4 years of dating. Time flies? The Malbroughs have visited at least 6 times, we've gone to the Quad Cities, we trudged to the hospital in over 2 feet of snow, figured out that we should do separate laundry, celebrated St Patty's day with all of our friends, and laughed a ton.

I'll update again if anything pressing comes up. For now, I encourage you to text message Mark and say something about sports. He won't respond if you write something like "how are you feeling" but you have a good chance of communication if you mention anything about the NFL draft.

Shallow Hal

Other than the massive swelling, recovery has been pretty swell.

The doctor is pleased with the surgery results and life at home has been pretty blase. At least for me, but then again, I don't play Black Ops.

Smiles

Well, Mark no longer has to watch Sweet Home Alabama and Maid in Manhattan at the hospital anymore because HE IS HOME!!

The physical therapists told him that they would be there around 10am yesterday, so when they showed up around 4pm, he was not in the happiest of moods. But for all that is good and holy, he was able to walk! And go home! Now, I wasn't there to witness all of this (because I am an important corporate woman) but I guess when he and his parents drove up to the apartment, it started hailing. Well Mark would not sit in the car for one more minute and walked up our 6 stairs with a cane in the Chicago wind and hail!

So, what happened in the surgery? 12 lymph nodes were removed plus a muscle in his inner thigh where most of the nodes lived. Then, a separate muscle attached to his hip was moved to cover the area that the other muscle was, so that his femoral artery was not exposed. So basically, he has a muscle in a different spot than it was before, and 12 lymph nodes went bye bye. He has a couple of drains in his leg to decrease the swelling, and cannot do anything with his leg that will use the new muscle. ALTHOUGH, I nosely stumbled upon the papers they gave him when he was released, and it gave him a list of things he could do:

Eating - Yes
Showering - Yes
Walking - Yes
Stairs - Yes

Also on the list were:
Shopping - Yes (THANK GOD)
Cleaning/Laundry - Yes!!!!

I made sure to mention something about that to which Mark said "that means I can have someone else DO my laundry."

Oh, did I mention that the biopsy came back from the lymph nodes and there were NO CANCER CELLS IN THEM????????????

Northwestern

Hi All,

Mark will be in the hospital until Thursday night-ish. I've been getting a few questions asking where he is. He's at Northwestern in room 1209.

He's pretty drugged up, but still cracking jokes!

6:26

Mark is out of surgery and we are waiting on him to get out of recovery and into his hospital room. Sounds like the surgery went well though! Wake up Mark!!!

#21

Looky there at patient number 21. That's our boy.

Lynn, Deb and I all took turns hugging and kissing MM before he went in. When it was my turn in the room with him, the nurse asked what my relationship was to Mark to which I answered "hot girlfriend." It's always best to make medical professionals feel as uncomfortable as possible. The same nurse asked Mark if he needed anything before the surgery and he said "McDonalds?" Sooooo the spirits are high here people!!

I'll give another update once I know more!! MWAH!

Cut him!

Ok, so the title of this blog may sound a little insincere, but it has been the general view from Mark's mom and I since finding out about the C. Get it out, far away, as fast and soon as possible.

So Mark opted for surgery, and the doctor heard our request for AS SOON AS POSSIBLE by scheduling it for this coming Monday. 13 lymph nodes will be removed, mostly in the upper left part of his leg (quad). Just typing these words is making me woozy. He will be in the comfort of the hospital for 4 days before coming home. Then he will pretty much be like a mother giving birth to quadruplets for the next couple of weeks. And by that I mean he will be on bed rest.

Moral of the story is that when you are all going to work on Monday, thinking how dreadful it is going to be, keep your chin up. We all have to do things that we don't want to do. But we sure as hockey sticks get through them!