Hi everyone -

This is a Phil again – a huge round of applause for my amazing big sister Ruth, who, alongside being a homeschooling mom & running down to Seattle two days in a row to watch me groan and lie limp, still did a great job keeping you all up-to-date on my status. 

Well, everyone, after  days in the hospital, followed by 3 days at the house of my just as amazing parents’, I finally get to write to you from my own living room.While I’m still taking a lot of pain meds, and am typing this w/ about 7 working fingers, and am bringing all my other systems “back online,” so to speak, I’m prgressing nicely in my recovery for what  (despite having become somewhat routine for me) was a pretty major surgery.  There’s really no timeline for these kinds of things, but more benchmarks along the way; I’m hitting some nicely (like living independently, and being able to give a thumbs-up with my gimpy hand), and can look forward to others in the near future (like driving, typing fast, and playing guitar).

As for next steps, the word yesterday from UW is that my tumor type was the same as before (anything else would have been bad news, so this was good to hear), and some follow-up chemo options are being discussed at this time.  Nothing very soon, though,. 

Now, I look forward to regaining normal sleep patterns, watching how England does in the World Cup, and getting to touch base w/ many of you to thank you personally for all you love, prayers, support, and encouragement.