Mom had a PET scan on Friday and we got the best news tonight. Mom's small tumors in her lungs are almost nonexistent and the one on the outside of her liver is termed "markedly" reduced. That means the chemo is working.
It's not only working, it's kicking cancer butt!
Our oncologist is the best. And I say this not simply because he's making strides with my mother's treatment. This is a man who walked her through breast cancer 5 years ago and who I chose to care for me through my breast cancer. I trusted him from the moment Bill and I stepped into his office because he was honest, sincere, and acknowledged the grief we were feeling. He helped us make the weighty decisions of choosing a bilateral mastectomy, given my type of tumor and finally deciding to let go of the chance to have another child.
Dr. K has been a godsend of hope and vision with my Mom. Not only did he hold their hands, but my own when he told me her initial results. He's never minced words. But what he absolutely has that so few other doctors have is vision. He sees to the future, what he wants for his patients - what his patient's want and need. It's a gift and a powerful thing. Faith in his knowledge and truthfulness.
There's no miracle cure for any of this but as Dr. K puts it, he's in the trenches so he knows what's going on. And he's convinced me totally.
I know this has been terribly hard on everyone at his office and on Dr. K too. The folks that see me and Mom weekly, chat with Bill or Dad--all of them the very same folks who cared for my Mom 5 years ago. It's been so difficult. Dr. K was so excited tonight he couldn't wait until tomorrow to give Mom and Dad their news.
We couldn't have asked for a bigger blessing this Christmas. No bigger gift. It's just absolutely amazing.
Progress...one baby step at a time. But we have progress and that's an incredibly deep and hopeful thing.
4 comments:
Hi Sharon
What good news! What drug is responsible? It is unbelievable that you 2 are going through chemo the same time-not the mother-daughter experience that anyone would want.
Sue
Hi - good news in cancerworld can be "elusive" (see poor Sue's wig post), but yay for you for finding some.
Also - I know how it feels to go through chemo at the same time as your mom. My mom and I were three weeks apart when we started last year (her second breast cancer, my first). I wrote about it, but you didn't need to look for me back then. It's tough on everyone. I think of you often.
K
Both of you are inspiring to me. I read your blogs every day - funny that we're strangers across many miles and still, I worry like a mother hen.
Sue, I will need to ask Poppa for the drug names. I can't remember squat :) My Mom says all this is taking togetherness a little too far!
Kathy, I will be looking for that post on your blog. It's so very hard (as you know) to have all of this in a family at the same time. I'm so sorry that it happened to you.
On another note, I'm going to add some unsolicited practical hair and head advice to your blog Sue. Because some just told me stuff and I've found it useful.
Hugs to both of you!
-Sharon
The best thing (?) about going through chemo with my mom was sharing side effect horror stories. We knew exactly what the other was experiencing, and that was comforting. Agreed that it's taking togetherness way too far, though.
Take care,
K
Post a Comment