We're home! We wrapped up proton radiation in Rochester early Friday afternoon and pulled into DL around 6 PM. I'm beyond pleased to say that although it was a grind, everything went as smoothly as we could have ever hoped and prayed for. As for next steps, I relax for a month, then do an MRI in mid January that will determine next steps - the expectation is that I'll go onto "chemo maintenance", which is a pill I take for the first 5 days of a 28 cycle, then repeat that cycle 5 or 6 times. It's a higher dosage of the same drug I've been taking since radiation started, so we're optimistic I can handle that too.

I don't know how many more updates, if any, I will post to this, as we're cautiously optimistic that the hardest parts of this are behind us for awhile - so I'm going to thank some people...

First and foremost, we thank God above for walking beside us throughout this, and carrying us through the more difficult parts of the past few months. We believe in the power of prayer, and we sincerely thank all of you that have kept us in your prayers so frequently.

So many of you have done so much for us and we will be eternally grateful for all of it. You've helped us pull out lake stuff, helped our kids move into college when we couldn't, helped us pick up leaves in the fall, kept an eye on our mailbox while we were away, gave Lisa and I place to crash in Minneapolis on weekends, gave us a place to celebrate Thanksgiving with family, and so much more. We are truly blessed to have the family and friends we have.

So many of you have also been so great to Theo & Ben during this. You've kept them entertained with dinners and texts, and distracted them while Lisa and I focused on this -- I know they are adults now, but they're still our kids :-) The texts, hugs when you see them (esp. Shannon & Kelly), and all of that made us so comfortable knowing what a support network of love they were surrounded with.

To those of you who shared your own similar cancer journeys with me, I cannot thank you enough. Jason, Julie, Dave, Robert, Carla & Dan, just to name a few - your constant encouragement and willingness to field phone call after phone call as I wrapped my head around this was such a massive blessing, thank you.

Finally - thank you to all of the staff at Sanford and Rochester Mayo that have helped me get this far in this journey. Mike - I can never thank you enough for educating me on what Mayo Proton Therapy had to offer and doing what you did. God puts people in our lives for a reason, and I'm so glad he put you in mine.

As I said above, we're cautiously optimistic about the future. As I drove home last night, I had time to reflect on the fact that we've really NEVER known what tomorrow will bring. It may have felt like we knew, but the reality is that we have today. We have right now. We never know how the road of life will suddenly twist and turn, so don't sweat the small stuff, hug the people you love and make sure they know you love them, today.

Thank you all - may God's peace and blessings be upon you this Christmas season.

Dan