Greetings friends, family, coworkers, and Mick supporters! 

It's been about a month since my last update, so I wanted to pop on to let you know that things have somewhat plateaued since March. Some days are certainly better than others, but in general, there have been no new or drastically surprising symptoms added to the mix. 

Overall, Mick is doing fairly well. He is moving around slowly and carefully, sometimes with a walker or gait belt and on crappier days, in a wheelchair. He is often sleeping a bit more throughout the day and has become a bit quiet/more reserved at times. And then there are days where he's a bit more talkative and alert. Needless to say, we are cherishing his bursts of energy more and more every day.

This past month, he dealt with quite a consistent pain in his left ankle/foot. After an ultrasound, some clotting was discovered in his left leg which was likely the cause. He was put on a blood thinner and the pain subsided. Now that he is on a blood thinner AND still receiving Avastin infusions, he's at even more risk for bleeding, so our focus has shifted to eliminating that risk and increasing safety. (For example, we're getting a chair lift installed in Palatine, so that he can ride up and down the stairs in style!) 

After meetings with Mick's oncology team at Northwestern, it was decided that now is a good time to enter palliative care. What this means is that Mick will continue his treatments for the cancer (Optune device, Keytruda infusions, and Avastin infusions) but will also have a nurse visit the house once per month to check in and see how things are going. The perk of palliative care is that the nurses there can prescribe medications or treatments that Mick might need to manage symptoms (new or old) that arise. 

In addition to palliative care, we've started using a respite care service located in Barrington to give Lori some time to run errands and take care of herself. This means that we schedule a "visiting angel" (not necessarily a nurse, think more like a relief caretaker) to come and hang with Mick and help out around the house for about 12 hours per week. The hope is that between palliative care and respite caretakers, Lori can spend more *quality* time with her hubby, and not be a 24/7 caretaker (which she has done and would do without hesitation, of course). 

Mick is scheduled for more infusions and a visit with his oncologist next week, and his next MRI will be sometime in June (unless there is a reason for him to get one sooner). In the meantime, he has about two months of outpatient speech/cognitive/physical therapy on the calendar to keep him as strong and sharp as possible. 

We hope you're all having a great start to your Spring and, as always, we thank you for your texts, voicemails, visits, prayers, and good vibes! I'll be back soon. <3