This just in.....

Here are most of the updates from the most recent Dr. visits:

Mark needs rotor cuff surgery on his right shoulder. He popped a tendon in his bicep muscle last week just plugging in the vacuum. They told him it would eventually heal, and they could reattach it when they do the surgery. For now his upper arm is an interesting shade of violet.

He visited with the oncology Dr. and everything seems to be going well. His body is healing from the radiation and chemo and they're preparing him for the surgery. Wednesday or Thursday Mark should be able to pick the surgeon and get the surgery date scheduled.

Good news from the urologist, and the catheter is out.

More good news from the lung specialist. The Dr. thinks it's a great idea to get Mark off the steroid drug in preparation for the surgery (the drug can inhibit healing, and they were hoping the condition of his lungs allowed for him to stop the steroid for awhile). So Mark will go down in dosage for 7-10 days, and then stop taking it. He'll also be able to stop taking his antibiotic and prilosec once he stops the steroid pill (since those two were prescribed to help with side effects of the steroid). The Dr. said his lungs looked and sounded great and there is a small chance that he may not need to go back on the steroid again. But they're re-evaluate once the surgery is done.