Hi Everyone!

I meant to do more updates during Chris's radiation but I didn't quite get to it. He's done! I'd say the 6 weeks flew by but that would be a huge lie. The first few weren't bad but after the 2nd week, things did change and it got a lot harder for him. Despite the pain and discomfort, he continued to work, coach, and mountain/road bike. I've said he is superman and although it was nothing near easy, the way be went and continues to go through this, proves it. I'm amazed, his doctor's are amazed and anyone reading about his situation is amazed. 

We've put it out there now that we are having a baby in September! We found out the week we got back from the hospital in December. When I told him is was pretty casual and he had not slept properly for about a week while in the hospital. But, the news seemed to lift our spirits just enough. At the time it gave us hope that as terrible and hard as the last month had been, life still goes on and wonderful happy things do happen. Its definitely been something to keep us going through this with baby things to talk about and look forward to. 

I've copied a post he wrote this morning and put it below. He also posted occasionally throughout his treatment on Facebook so if you are able, I'd recommend reading them. Chris is pretty inspiring. 

"Radiation is over! That feels amazing to say. Knowing I won't be getting worse is a big weight off of my mind. However the ordeal isn't over. It makes me think of climbing South Sister. I know many of you have. It's exciting when you reach the top! You're tired, but it's a wonderful feeling to get to the top. You get a little moment of celebration. Then you realize you have to hike all the way back. The journey isn't done. It's downhill now, but the car is many miles away. The same applies here. I will start to heal soon, but it's going to take a while.

This past week it certainly got worse. My neck skin became very tender and is now peeling. Much like an extremely bad sunburn. I'm only eating 2x a day and it's just high calorie shakes. It's too uncomfortable to do more. I miss getting to enjoy food. 

It's not all bad though. From the neck down I still feel pretty good. In celebration of finishing I went mountain biking yesterday afternoon. Partly because I love it, and partly because my doctor predicted I wouldn't be able to. The prediction was I'd need to take 2 weeks off of work and would be mostly in bed or on the couch. Nope!! Some trail therapy put me in an amazing mood.

Up next there are more appointments, but mostly to check I'm healing correctly. I'll let you know how it goes."  -Chris