Today was Paul’s last day of treatment. It was a gorgeous sunny day so after he wrapped up, we walked into town. Paul went to the gym, I took a walk and then we celebrated with CAKE.

Tomorrow morning at 5:45 AM local time we head home via a very long travel day that takes us from Munich to Amsterdam to Minneapolis and then to Cincinnati. If all goes well we’ll land around 8:30 PM EST on Saturday night.

Paul just took a bunch of photos of the hyperthermia equipment and I’ll post them when we get home. (The wifi at the clinic is too slow to post photos from here.)

We won’t be able to definitively confirm the outcome of this week for quite some time. Because of the androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), Paul’s PSA will be artificially lower for the next six to eight weeks. He’ll need to schedule a MRI in three months and at that time we should be able to see what the impact on his tumors has been. However, a far as Paul is concerned, he is leaving the cancer here in Germany, and is already healed (…by his stripes we are healed).

There’s a couple here from Texas; a husband (Jason) and wife (Kelly) with a small child (Emma) and Emma’s grandmother (Grace.)  Kelly was recently diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer and she’s in terrible pain. She’s barely been able to get out of bed and my heart is just breaking for her family. Please keep them in your thoughts as she’s having a really tough time.

We said goodbye to everyone tonight and got emails and contact info so that we can keep in touch and hopefully share the success stories of the people we met while we were here. Regardless of the outcome, we will be forever changed by this experience.

Monday is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. I’ll be home in time to sing at High Holiday services at Congregation Beth Adam and I’m hopeful to be starting the year 5776 with my cancer-free guy. Thanks again for your kind words, your prayers and all of the healing energy you’ve been sending our way. We can feel it!

With love,

Polliwog and Jilly Bean