April 25, 2006




Feeding a live young Tiger at the Tiger Zoo: Part of Our Celebration of Good News (the tiger in this picture is real)

After Mark received good news from his CAT SCan (see blog below), Dr. T. wanted to start another round of chemotherapy the next day, but Mark begged for five days off to go celebrate the news and his second birthday since cancer diagnosis. He wanted very much to go to Hong Kong on a cheap package tour to the Disney Park, but we decided we had to save the money for continuing cancer treatment. We settled for Pattaya the nearest city with beaches. Pattaya has a reputation for partying and bars. It also has stretches of beautiful beaches with nice hotels, five star hotels, and even a water park hotel. We opted for the latter and spent three days in the water park going down the huge water slides and playing in the water interspersed with serious resting. The water park costs 100 baht for all day (about $2.50). We walked the beach and toured a fabulous private home on the beach that we could rent, but remember we are saving money for chemo. On the way home, we stopped at the Siracha Tiger Zoo in Chonburi. Mark and I (and especially his sister Stephanie) love seeing the baby tigers and baby pigs which are raised together in nurseries. A tiger mother nurses both tiger cubs and pigs with the piglets dressed in tiger suits. Another nursery has a mother pig nursing baby tigers and piglets but the tigers don't have on pig suits. Lots of big tigers here too and they are quite fun to watch. Feeding a young tiger is a challenge. The tiger behaves only as long as the milk lasts and you have to help him hold the bottle just so.

Mark is Back in Chemo April 25-26 We returned on Sunday night and Monday morning Mark went into outpatient to begin chemo. It is still hard for him to make himself go for chemo. He hates it but knows it is what he has to do. He was hospitalized overnight and gets chemo again today (Tues). The nurses kept trying to get him to give up his clothes and put on a gown, but he steadfastly refused trying to hold onto a feeling of wellness and being in control as long as he could and so he got chemo while dressed.

Send Mark a Note of Congradulations - You can send Mark a note to congradulate him on his progress in the battle against cancer and to let him know you still care. If you are where you can buy Kool-aide, tuck in a couple of packages of sugar free Black Cherry Kool-aide if you can. It is your support that keeps Mark going. It means everything to him. See blogs below for address.

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