Looking to the Future with Hope

Tues. Aug 14, 2012

This morning I walked with Tracy again and it feels so good to be active and in the beautiful outdoor air. My feet are always sore in the morning, so I take my Tylenol early enough to let it start working before we get walking and it does help some. I don’t have to limp quite as much. We were able to walk 2.33 miles at a quick pace and I was thrilled!  I came home, changed and showered and then was ready for a little down time. Haha

Lincoln came home early from work and together we went to meet with Dr. Clark, the new radiology oncologist. I was a little nervous, but said a prayer before leaving the house to be able to understand what my future treatments will be like regarding radiation and how that will change my day to day routine at this point.

Linc & I met with Dr. Clark today for 2 ½ hours. He’s a radiation oncologist and works very closely with Dr. Breyer my oncologist. They are in the same office. I had butterflies in my stomach as we waited to be called back to an exam room. As soon as he walked in the door he had a big smile on his face and shook our hands. His nurse Vicky was very warm and reassuring as well. Dr. Clark began by explaining that he had looked over and compared my PET Scan from March 27^th of this year with the recent one on Aug. 8^th. He smiled and said the difference between the two was “Remarkable!” He said my body is doing exactly what it’s supposed to be doing in reacting to the chemo. He said there is no more metabolic activity in the lymph node system throughout my left chest area or neck except for the largest tumor which is in the upper area of my left lung. Wahoo! In a nut shell, he explained that I will go through 6 weeks of radiation, 5 days a week for 6 weeks. In addition, I will also be on a once a week low dose round of chemo that will help my body accept the radiation more effectively. Instead of 5 hours of chemo every 3 weeks like I’ve been doing, I’ll have a 2 ½ to 3 hour chemo session once a week.

After 6 weeks of this type of treatment, they will give my body a 3 month break from all treatments so that I can heal. They at the end of the year they will do another PET Scan and re-evaluate how my body has handled the treatments and then we go from there. He was very clear in that his goal was not to have my cancer go into remission, but to CURE me of this cancer. Wow! I can hardly process that thought, but I am so grateful for this miracle that is taking place in my life. I am so humbled that my prayers are being answered and that I’m getting better. It’s hard to put into words, but I’m going to live. I’m going to be here to share this mortal experience with my husband and children and I’m so, so grateful. I really feel like I need to keep my feet on the ground and just take this one step at a time, one appointment at a time and one day at a time, but I’m doing it with a smile on my face and a grateful heart.