All systems are GO for the immunotherapy, and the first two potent pills will arrive at Nelson and Ann Sophie’s apartment via FedEx on Tuesday. Nelson will have to wait for the official go-ahead from his medical team, based on how his daily health monitoring is going, but in every way possible, he’s ready.

Ann Sophie is still draining his left lung daily, yesterday getting 700 milliliters, which is a lot. But the good news is that his right lung, which used to be of significant concern, has dried up completely. Cancer cells there are not producing any fluid—a dramatic change from the preceding five months. The team has talked tentatively about removing the drain catheter from that lung, which sure sounds like progress to us!

Nelson’s limbs are still swollen with fluids, but some of that is due to the clot. Doctors have said it will take three months or more for the large clot to begin to dissolve, if the blood thinners are working. We’ll have to be patient.

Today Nelson’s brother Hans, who is in the States from England with his family of eight, is on his way from Michigan to Minnesota. He’s looking forward to spending a little time with Nelson, with whom he is very close. There’s nothing like a bout of cancer to make us all value our relationships more than ever before. And amidst all the hard stuff that’s  happening every day, that’s a really good thing.

“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17)