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Weather: Sunny and hot

During the morning we went to my family’s cemetery. In Japan, where ancestor worship is the center of the religion, it is the most critical event for my father. It was very warm and the sun was very strong. I could feel my skin burning.

In the evening, I went to a party for which 11 classmates from my high school days got together. These are the people who kept reading my blog throughout my battle with cancer.

Among them was a classmate who went through chemo-radiation therapy and esophagectomy, due to esophageal cancer 7 years ago. He has been a wonderful resource who gave me advice over the E-mail. According to him, half of the cancer patients who went through the esophagectomy at the local university hospital died within six months. Also he was amazed to see how small my scars were, thanks to the minimally invasive operation method the BWH applied.

In the world of medicine, 7 years is a long time.