Mom and I sat at Bob Evans today barely speaking. She kept asking if she heard the doctor right. She asked if he truly said the larger mass next to her colon was in fact so small that they could barely measure it. He did. We were in shock. A happy shock but still in shock and trying to process the gift of good news we were given today

This morning at 7:45 I met my parents at her appointment with her oncologist. I gave my siblings updates letting them know we were sitting in the waiting room and again when they took us back. I didn’t want them to have to wonder if we were talking to the doctor yet. 

The nurse called mom’s name and took us back. She took mom’s weight and blood pressure. She looked like she knew bad news (later we discovered it was just a case of the Mondays). When you are waiting on news you try to read people. 

We sat in the room anxiously awaiting her doctor’s arrival. When he came in he asked about their vacation. How long they went? If they had any future vacation plans? And we were just sitting there thinking…ok just say it already. And then he said it “your scan looked good”. He then elaborated as we picked our jaws off the floor. He said the larger mass that is adjacent to her colon is so small they can barely measure it. He didn’t even mention the smaller mass that was next to her spleen. So I’m assuming it’s gone. He said her CA125 was in the 30s. 35 and under is normal range. So she’s either normal or close to it. 

The game plan is 3 more cycles (9 weeks) of chemo and then he will put her on a PARP-inhibitor drug that she will take for life. He said this drug has prevented cancer progression in some patients for up to one and a half years. 

10 months ago today mom was diagnosed and our lives changed forever. The fact that her CA125 at diagnosis was over 9,000 and today it is in the 30s is an amazing blessing. The fact that chemo is still working is a blessing. Let’s face it all of this is an incredible blessing and we do not take that for granted. We are incredibly grateful for all of this. And incredibly grateful for all the people that have been there for us, prayed for us, asked others to pray for us and let us know we are not alone. This isn’t over but today is a gift and I will take it, appreciate it and ride it out as long as possible.