Today I graduated from speech therapy.  The therapist thought I was making very good progress, and said to keep up the exercises.  She thought that I could continue on my own and she would be available anytime I had any questions or if I thought I needed to see her again.  The exercises take about 30-40 minutes to go through, and I'm supposed to do them a couple times a day. 

Our 4th of July was so much fun.  We stayed at Paradise Point in Mission Bay.  The resort had a great bbq and fireworks on Friday night, and we walked over to see all the coastal fireworks, and the Sea World fireworks show was awesome!  It was so nice to spend time with Ken and the kids. It was as close to normal as we've been in a long time.  Kassy and I spent some time in the spa getting pampered, Ken and Cody tossed a football around for a long time and played in the pool, and Kassy and her friend Emily got to ride a jet ski.  We fed the fish and the ducks and got lots of sun.  

My trach site is still open just a bit, so I still have a bandage there.  I may have to get a stitch or two this week to get it to close up all the way.  We are leaving for vacation this Saturday, so it would be great to have it healed up by then so I can go swimming.  I start my chemo meds again next week, and I'm waiting for blood test results to see how active the tumors have gotten these past couple of months.  I probably won't have another body scan until I have had 3 cycles of chemo (each cycle is 6 weeks).  

More good news - my nephew Tarin is recovering very nicely at home.  My sister says he's in good spirits, and they just got him a puppy to help keep him busy since he can't play sports. Thank you all for your prayers for me and my family.  I'm praying that none of us have any more health issues for a good long time.

God is love.