The feeding tube is GONE !!

A big day today; Mark got his feeding tube removed!! He is absolutely thrilled to have that thing out of his stomach. The procedure went well and much quicker than expected. After he got discharged this afternoon, he was starving, and requested a trip to IN-N-OUT Burgers, so Meghan and I obliged. He ate an entire meal of burger, fries, and chocolate shake. It was by far the most he has eaten in one setting in months. And it couldn't have come at a better time. The two biggest concerns right now are still his kidneys and his weight. More tests on the kidneys next week to see if the function has improved from the 35% result from the last test. Unfortunately he has still continued to lose weight, and lost another 7 pounds over the past 10 days. He is down to 143 pounds. Ugh. Very frustrating to watch. The only goals we have thru March is to keep the kidneys healing, and get the weight headed in the right direction. Tomorrow we are going to head out to Palm Springs for a few days, to get him some R&R and a change of scenery. Lots of friends and neighbors out in the desert are very excited to see him this weekend. It has been cold here the past few days in So Cal (well, cold for us...) so have been watching a lot of Olympics. Go Team USA !! Hope everyone is doing well, and thanks again for all your continued love and support. Go Team Mark !!! Love, Perry