Best of the Bad News

As many of you have heard, the doctors found a small spot (measured in millimeters) on mom's last two MRI's.  After much debate, they decided that it is most likely a recurrence of the SNUC tumor, even though it is in a totally different area (the cerebellum rather than the frontal lobe).  Even though that's rare, it would be more rare for her to develop a completely different type of tumor.  As one doctor said, it would be like lightning striking twice.  We were a little disheartened by the news at first, but we soon decided that this was really the best of all possible bad news.

They found no other areas of concern in the PET scan, so they are going to focus on the spot.  The consensus regarding the treatment approach is that she should have Stereo Tactic Radio Surgery (aka STaRS).  This is the "one dose" of radiation that they mentioned earlier.  It's basically a very intense, precise dose of radiation that will remove the tumor.  So even though it is called "surgery," there's no cutting involved.  Just radiation.

She was fitted for the radiation mask the week before Christmas, so everything is set for her to have the procedure next week.  They would have done it sooner, but she had planned to visit Allie and Natalie and families in Virginia this past week and the doctors were very much in favor of her doing that.  So, she's back home as of last night and resting up for the big day.

Hope that 2012 has already brought you many blessings and that it holds many more,
jk

Getting Better All the Time

Mom and Dad saw Dr. Rixe again on Wednesday.  As an indicator of how well things have been going, I didn't even know about the appointment!  But I got the call Wednesday afternoon as they were driving home.  Basically, still no tumor.  And Dr. Rixe made a point of saying that the longer they go without seeing tumor, the better the "good news" is.  In other words, the longer she goes with no recurring tumor cells, the less likely that it will recur.  I think I am actually starting to believe all this good news.  It's finally sinking in!  Hooray!

Baby You Can Drive My Car

Another bit of progress that I forgot to report last time is that Dr. Rixe gave Mom the go-ahead to drive.  She has really been enjoying her newly reinstated vehicular freedom, but she's being extremely cautious and not really driving much at night or any time she feels tired.  Esphyr has been the most excited about this news, perhaps.  The first few days after, she kept announcing, out of the blue, "Grandma can drive!  Hey Mom, did you know?  Grandma can drive!!"  To her, it's truly a miracle because in her memory, Grandma has never been able to drive.  So it is almost as revolutionary as Sonny being able to drive.  Luckily, we don't have to think about that for ten more years.  Whew!

Hello, Goodbye

That's all for this Beatle-themed post.  Hope to hear more good news, from Mom and from all of you.  Don't forget to share your own!

Lots of love,
jk

REMISSION!

They finally said that wonderful word today!  Mom is officially in remission.  I was just rereading the subtitle to this blog, and when I wrote "journey of healing," it seemed like wishful thinking.  After the last visit, my dad asked me if I thought mom's healing had been a miracle.  At the time, I didn't know what to say.  I didn't feel qualified to speak about miracles.  But the more I have thought about it, the more I believe that it is a miracle, however you happen to define them-- spiritual, religious, medical, natural-- this certainly qualifies!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!  If you are reading this, you have probably done so many things, small and large to help Rosie and all of us.  She is grateful for all the prayers, cards, thoughts, meals, gifts, blessings that have flowed her way.  We could not have done this without everyone's support!  At least, we could not have made it through so gracefully and feeling so loved and connected.

Lots of love,
jk

PS I will put up pictures soon!

Off to the Lake!

Hello, everyone,

I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I'd just write a little note to say that the girls have arrived in Madison (Allie and Natalie with Jonathon and Lola), and tomorrow we will all caravan down to Kentucky Lake to visit Tom and Melinda (my dad's brother and his wife), minus the boys (Daniel and Harlan-- they are staying behind to work.  So responsible!).  This summer has already been worlds better than last, so we are thankful every single day for the blessings of the ordinary: garlic harvested from the garden, sunsets, fireflies, hair!

May your days be full of ordinary joys,
jk

"Expect Something Good"

That's Dr. Rixe speaking.  The second best thing about Dr. Rixe is his quotability (with the first of course being that he seems to have made my mother's tumor disappear).  "Expect something good," he said, referring to the official report of the most recent MRI after the tumor board meets next week.  He said that the first review (with he and his team of fellows) appears to be very good, though he called it "complicated."  Of course my dad sat up straighter at that one, but Dr. Rixe explained that because of all her treatments, her scans show many "abnormalities," but none of them appear to be tumor cells.

This is exceptionally good news!  It means that she has now had three scans (two MRIs and one PET) that have been clear, which earned her a whole summer off.  "Forget about us," Dr. Rixe said with a characteristic twinkle in his eye.  "Come back in two and a half months."  So her next appointment is August 3rd, with nothing in between.  No blood work even!  Or, as she told my sisters while sharing the news, "I'm available all summer!"  Esphyr and I burst into "Happy birthday to you!"

We celebrated with a late lunch (Chipotle's at 4:00pm) and then Graeter's with our Graet friends, the Templetons.  Dad had a turtle Sunday for his birthday treat.  The ride home was joyous, as you can probably imagine.  Storms were brewing but none touched us.  My favorite quote as mom spread the news was, "I planted a lot of seeds and now I might get to harvest them."  Here's to bountiful harvests!

Love to all,
jk

Just to Clarify

My dad wanted to be sure that we did not offer false hope: there is no tumor visible, that is for sure.  But this is not a cancer-free status.  It just means that the treatments have done what they were supposed to, things are moving in the right direction, and Mom gets a month off.  Maybe many months off-- we hope!-- but as Dr Rixe put it, we are cautiously optimistic.

Let's celebrate!
jk

Tears of Joy

Well, I can hardly believe what I am about to type, but I have it on good authority (from my Aunt Cindy, nurse extraordinaire) that there is no new treatment plan because there is no tumor visible.  No tumor! The PET scan was totally clear, and Dr. Rixe said that he is not going to treat her because there is no documentable disease to treat.  (His first words when he walked in the door were: "Good news!")

If you're like me, you might be asking, "But what about that PET scan that was clear before the surgery back in October?"  Well, there is that, and because of that Dr. Rixe is being cautious.  However, that was a different case because the PET scan was taken right after a round of chemo and three weeks later, there was visible growth on the scan.  This scan was taken three weeks after the most recent round of chemo and there is nothing!  Nothing to even remark on.  There was a line in the last MRI that Dr. Rixe wanted to watch and look for, but it was not even visible at all in this PET scan.  So he says, "Is there one cell?  Ten cells?  100?  I don't know.  But I cannot see anything."

This is incredible news.  He will check her again in one month (via MRI), but for now, he said, "Go home!  Go back to a normal life."

Normal has never seemed so extraordinary.

Cheers,
jk