The News Is Looking Good!

Flying back to Arizona had a bit of “scanxiety” going on in my head.  That term means the anxiety of what the CT scan and the brain MRI might be.  Could be good news, could be bad news, or it could be something in between.    Fortunately, I sat next to a nice man named Charles who was on his way back from a family reunion in St. Louis.  We chatted about our upbringing in the St. Louis area and the differences we see living in the southwest.  Our conversation took most of the flight, so thoughts of scans was nowhere anywhere in my mind.

Scan days and doctor days are just long-drawn-out days at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Gilbert, Arizona.  We arrived for the CT scan.  Since it was my first appointment, the port was accessed at the imaging center.  Usually, the lab is my first visit of the day, and they have the privilege of inserting that big giant needle into my port.  Therefore, the work by the phlebotomist was simple, just draw the blood.  My brain MRI was a bit later so Dennis and I could go out for lunch.  Then off to the lab again to get that scan completed.  Since we had a large and late lunch, our decision to just have some ice cream for dinner was a great idea!  Doctor’s orders—he told me not to diet!

Later that evening I was able to pull up the CT scan results.  I’m never sure what they call good news, but it looked like what I read was on the positive side.  I had decided to not try to interpret these results.  The last time I did this before meeting with my oncologist, I had decided the results were bad.  He informed me that the results were good.  I cannot expect everything to disappear all at once.

We showed up on time to meet first with the radiologist oncologist.  We sat in one patient room, and he couldn’t get the computer up to show me the results.  We then moved to another patient room.  Same problem.  He then said he was not allowed to take patients to his office, but under these circumstances he saw no other way to show me my results.  Dennis, Doc, and I slinked through the hallways wearing our invisibility capes and quietly walked into his office and shut the door.  There he was able to pull up the scans.  I still have a carrot nose.  I had to make sure that my name was on the scan and not Frosty the Snowman’s.  

This is what the MRI of my brain showed:

Oops! That’s not my brain! Here is the MRI. Please note it still looks like a snowman’s nose! The lesion circled is the one that has already started to shrink. It can take up to a year for brain lesions to shrink. The good news is they no longer can grow.

As we looked at the images, he pointed out the areas that he radiated.  They were slightly smaller.  One of the weird things about brain radiation is that the lesions can get larger at first from swelling.  Then they may decrease in size, but many times they do not go away.  They are just dead lesions that can no longer grow and cause problems.  The radiation was successful.  However, I have several “punctate nodules” which are the size of a pinhead.  They have to be watched that they do not grow into lesions.  The immunotherapy I am on every four weeks may very well irradicate these little bitty spots in my head.  If not, and they grow, he will radiate those.  All in all, it was a successful brain scan.

We had a short amount of time for lunch, so we ate in their café, which I do not recommend if one has time to leave the building to eat.  I think a four-year-old could have made a better grilled cheese sandwich.  I’m glad I decided to share it with Dennis rather than eat the whole thing.  As I am killing time, I am working on my computer designing a PowerPoint video for my 60^th class reunion.  A lady came up to me and asked me about what I was working on.  In our brief conversation, I learned her husband had once lived in Missouri and got his master’s degree from Mizzou.  It’s always nice to meet nice people, and to find something in common with them.  We ended our conversation because it was time to go to the lung cancer clinic.  I’m at the desk getting registered in when this couple appeared as her husband was also registering in.  I commented that maybe we were seeing the same doctor.  No, he had a different kind of cancer, but then she told me that my oncologist is her oncologist (lung cancer specialist) and she has been completely cancer free for eight years.  I am amazed how God brings people into our lives just to be encouraging.  She became my new hero that afternoon—just knowing someone could be cancer free that long cheered me up.  

Now we were sitting in the oncologist’s office waiting for him.  He was delayed.  When he finally came in, he commented that the computers were down and he had wanted to show me my scans.  As he was saying that the computer lit up and the program was facing him.  God thing?  I think so.  He pulled up my first scans and my current scans.  He said my progress was excellent.  The tumors are still there but are going in the right direction.

Remember when I told you about my first encounter with this doctor?  He just gets to the point?  The first meeting he stated, “If you do nothing, you will be dead in 3 months.”  That was pretty shocking.  This time he said that statement was really generous, he told me most people who were where I was last February died within a couple weeks of the diagnosis if nothing was done.  Wow!  

That was not the only shocking thing he told me.  He said looking at my progress, that he could not guarantee anything, but if I continue to do the same progress, I did this past 6 months for the next six months, the word remission would definitely be there or even cure!  Cure?  Wow!  He said there are people with small cell lung cancer who have been cured.  I was shocked by that because I thought there was no cure for it, just control.  He said it’s only about 15%, but there is the word cure.

To say the least, Dennis and I walked out of there as shocked as we were from the first day we met Dr. Niu.  The only difference was, we had smiles on our faces that maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I asked AI to make Dennis and I do a happy dance. I suppose AI knows we are not great dancers!

I don’t think any of this comes out of left field.  There are so many family and friends praying for me, who send me cards, who tell me they are praying daily, who send a text of encouragement and prayer.  God hears these prayers and he has blessed them.  I am overwhelmed.  Now let’s get this straight, I at this time cannot guarantee a remission or cure, but just the idea of the possibility from what I was told in February, it’s such good news.  

The fight is still ongoing.  I have to have immunotherapy for approximately 2 years.  It’s building my immune system to kill these cancer cells.  It is the only thing that can be thought of as curative.  Chemotherapy can kill cancer cells, but it cannot do a long-lasting kill shot.  Immunotherapy is the thing that can make the cancer cell go away permanently.

I still need your prayers.  Please don’t stop.  I’m winning one small battle at a time, but this is a war.  Dr. Niu did say that my attitude is a great help in healing.  I can only have this attitude because of what Jesus has done for me.  I have a joy that I cannot explain.  I have a peace that passes understanding. 

We flew back to Missouri the day after all this good news.  Our dog and car were still here.  We want to take some side trips to see some family and friends.  We will make our way home in mid-August to get us there before my next infusion.  

God is good all the time!