December 28

Dear All,

Sorry there was no entry last night -- as I was falling asleep I realized that I had forgotten to write. I fell asleep... and woke up this morning to snow! It has snowed here all day, to our delight, and looks like the winters of our youth in Canada. It is incredibly beautiful, silhouetting the walnut groves, manteling the surrounds with softness. Even the indoors somehow look more beautiful when the outdoors are snow laden -- warm, cozy, nestled-in-looking-out.

Our "traveling nurse" came this morning to remove Greg's stitches already. He was a kind and funny gentleman, in his late sixties, who likes to remind us that he is past retirement age... but enjoys his job too much to quit. He first came yesterday to give me my shot: at last, the new treatment has begun. Two to four weeks, we are told, for it to start making a difference. How we both hope it will work! (A side note here: one of the side effects of this drug is that my immune system will have greatly lowered defences, and I am to try to keep well away from those with contagious viruses, even colds and flus, as they will now make me much more sick. So, strange and slightly even rude as it would seem, we now need to ask folks to think twice about coming to visit if they have anything even a little contagious.)

This morning the nurse moved the stitches from both Greg's stomach and his head. The reason he had stitches in his stomach might make the queasiest of you to skip the next sentence- I'll put it in (())) and you can let your eye pass by that bit. ((Stitches: the surgeons use a piece of fat from the patient's stomach to seal the hole -- or, in Greg's case, holes -- that they have made through the bone to get at the brain and tumor. Hence the need for stomach stitches as well, once the piece is removed.)) As those of you who have had stomach surgeries or C-sections know, stitches in the stomach have their own tedium, especially when it comes to coughing or sneezing.These actions tax both Greg's stomach and head.

So today was a big day -- stitches out, tromping around in the snow, and then this afternoon, after a trip into Tullins with Greg's parents, Greg drove home! Only four kms -- but 4 kms a*lot* earlier than expected, and in the snow no less.

Indeed Greg is walking and moving about so normally now that no stranger would guess he had such major surgery only two weeks ago (unless they caught sight of the scar, that is, for it will stay noticeable for sometime yet). We had French/Polish friends who came to visit Greg yesterday and the one who is a doctor told me that she couldn't believe how Greg is already moving about: a strong and determined constitution. He tires easily of course, but when rested he seems -- as far as passive interaction goes... no sports or overly silly antics for a bit yet -- he seems almost back to his old self.

His face still looks a bit different of course, and we realize may always do so. But we still have some hope for more return to what once was. Greg has an appointment with the physio/kiné on Friday, and it will be interesting to hear what he has to say. This morning, however, I noticed that Greg's right eye closed all the way when he fell back asleep. This is the first time I have seen it do this since the operation -- for the first while it only closed a third of the way, if that. As I write now, he lies asleep with his legs across me (pinning me to the sofa!) and again, his eye is completely closed. This seems a good sign, but we are cautious of getting too hopeful. He cannot close it on demand -- only when he is relaxed enough that he is falling asleep. But perhaps this may mean he won't have to wear his "fighter-pilot" eye goggle to bed much longer. He has to put many solutions and gels in his eye throughout the day as well -- if his eye does learn to close on demand again, and have a natural blink reflex, this would no longer be necessary. The doctors would be much happier, as it also means they wouldn't have to worry about sight preservation in his eye. Greg would love to be able to see properly, so right now the protective gels keep everything blurry.

Greg's parents have been great, keeping house for us -- even to the extent of spoiling the cat and the birds. (Wildbirds, of course, which we feed outside our window. We began on Christmas Eve, and within half an hour, robins, pits, and nuthatches had enthusiastically dived in. We will have to ration at some point, or they will eat us out of house and home, but in this cold spell with lots of snow it's easy to give in... and it gives us all pleasure watching them happily dash and dive about.) Frank and Sharon are also being tempted to spoil the horses in the field beside us, with some of our felled apples.

Off to dinner now. We have taught Frank and Sharon how to make Raclette, Tarteflette (regional dishes), and Swedish Coffee Cake. Tonight we feast on Frank's Turkey Pie, preceded by his Escargot!

A demain,

Kirstin