The Reluctant Passenger

The great news tonight is that today's exam shows no sign of cancer.

Dr. Francis took care of some interior scarring at the surgical site and wants to see Kevin in a year unless any issues come up beforehand.

I would have liked Kevin's exam to have been clear to the point of boring--the memories of last winter's scare due to scarring at the surgical site are vivid. But Dr. Francis seemed confident this can be handled without additional surgery. That's a HUGE improvement over what we faced last winter.

Dr. Francis is great. His own little physician/artist sketches of what the potential problem is, full color photos of the inner deal AND a confidence level that's contagious. What more can you ask for in a surgeon?

Kevin did great. He was outspoken this time about how the sedation affects him afterwards and things went amazingly better on the recovery side. I couldn't believe how good he looked and felt immediately afterwards.

As on all medical days, he got to call lunch; he was eating coney dogs from Dog N Suds within the hour.

So we're home in Ohio tonight. He has a tune-up in a year. We're counting on things being calm for this year. An entire blissful year of no invasions. This is WONDERFUL news!

Kevin had the rare experience of being the passenger for the entire trip today. He closed his eyes a lot--maybe napping, more likely avoiding my driving. (This was probably a wise decision on his part--it got a little ugly along those orange barrels and cement barriers lined up on I-275. I always imagine all it will take is clipping one and then we'll ricochet between them like a pinball for miles.)

Kev's very kind about it, but it's hard to be the passenger when your normal role is driver.

Kind of sums up the last year for him. Being the passenger more than he wanted. On a ride he didn't want to take.

I'm as happy to relinquish the driver's seat as Kevin is to claim it. Now all I have to do is explain the orange barrel wedged up under the truck...