Mom is back in Austin. After months of being too sick to e-mail, Mr. Mark (this is what he is called at Bumrungrad Hospital, Bangkok) began e-mailing me when I came home. He still has liver cancer even though his primary Gastro-Esophageal juncture tumor is gone after ten months of radiation and chemotherapy. He is still getting chemotherapy in Bangkok and riding the roller coaster of cancer with all its ups and downs.
It has been a challenge for Mr Mark to stay positive since fighting cancer is difficult and takes a hefty toll physically and financially, but he has done it and sets an example for us all. He recently purchased some inexpensive classic books: Dicken's Great Expectations, Doskiveski's Crime and Punishment, and Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Mr. Mark has always been an avid reader and it provides a great diversion from his worries about cancer, nausea, vomiting, pain, money, and the future. He hopes to stay positive by reading books to help him gain insight and he tells me he is setting small goals and a big goal for each day. If he makes even his small goal, it makes him happy. I miss the face to face heart to heart talks and the laughter that we have each day when I am in Bangkok, however we are e-mailing about important things on our minds. News on Mr. Petey Bird The miracle bird Kuhn Petey (Mr. Petey) shares the beautiful Bangkok sunset every night with Mr. Mark, from his balcony. See story of Mr. Petey Bird in the archives (check right hand column).
Mark Thanks You all for Your Cards, Letters, Gifts, Prayers, and Most of All for Caring
Mark enjoys your cards and letters and prayers. He tells me to thank everyone who has helped him in any way (e.g. taking valuable time out of your day to pray or write a note and/or taking money out of your pocket to help him in any way, or helping his mom). You are all special to him. Support makes all the difference in the world in how long a person with cancer survives and how successful they are in dealing with it. His sister has some of her students, who don't know Mark but know about him, writing lengthy notes to him to break up some of his monotony and take his mind off his pain.
Anyone who wants to help Mark financially, in any amount, can send tax free donations through Dr. Larry Lake (email: petroprof@aol.com) or send a check directly to Highland Park Baptist Church 5206 Balcones Drive, Austin, Texas 78731 with a notation on the check: For Mark Richardson Medical Fund. If you want to read all the blogs, you can go back to the first one by clicking on the oldest one you find and it will pull up with older ones after it.