Oh, I am so sad. I don't mean boo-hoo sad, I mean lame sad. I sent out all of my "please pray" emails and then forgot to update everyone on my Dad.

Ok, so...the Friday before Thanksgiving Dad had a left scapulectomy. Yes, that means his "chicken wing" is gone along with about half of that side of his collar bone. The surgery itself went as well as could be expected and he recovered quite nicely. The couple days following the surgery were entertaining as he was on a TON of pain killers and muscle relaxers (he had post-surgical hiccups). He doesn't really remember much about those few days which is good because he wasn't very nice. Note to self, next time a loved one has major surgery, switch to "forget everything they say directly after surgery" mode and try not to take anything personally. Wow, he let out a couple of doozies! After a few days in the hospital, Mom was able to bring him home on Thanksgiving. What a treat! We we able to celebrate as a family on that Saturday...a true blessing.

The surgeon was very happy with the surgery and the pathology report noted that they seemed to have removed the entire tumor. Praise God! He is now off all of the pain meds and working on his PT. He can move his hand to his mouth (more than we expected so soon) and he is able to dress and feed himself. Quite a feat considering many in the same situation lose their arms entirely. I have come to realize just how much we take for granted. His color is back to normal and so is his sense of humor. He was pretty depressed there for a while. At the moment he does not need further chemo for which his is extremely grateful. He has lost a ton of weight and looks great. He's happy about the weight loss just not a fan of chemo as the newest "plan". Unless you are really looking you can't really tell that he is missing part of his shoulder. Not that we were focusing on that, but what we worry about changes with every milestone.

As for me, this holiday season was one of looking back on our lives and being truly and utterly thankful for what we have. It's so easy to do in times of crisis and I just hope I can keep it up throughout the coming year. I have also decided no resolutions this year. All I do is break them and then get mad at my utter lack of will power so, this year I am just going to work on a few little things and see where I go from there.

Thanks again for all of your prayers and good thoughts. I know they worked and I am so blessed to have all of you in my life.

I wish you all a happy and HEALTHY new year! Be safe tonight and try to stay off the crazy roads.