Patience |7-22-16|

I have so many thoughts flying around in my head. I can't type it all up fast enough. We've learned to be so patient through all of this. 15 months of learning how to be patient as tests are ran, results trickle in, things don't go as planned.... Patience has been a new skill I've acquired. So...Should I start with the good news? Of course I should- I've had nothing but bad news for way too long. And you're probably tired of waiting for this. Thanks for your patience.

Mike had a CT scan this morning and they told us that the cancer has significantly DECREASED!! It isn't gone, which would be ideal before he gets the transplant, but for his case, and in his situation, this is the best news we could have hoped for! This means that he just needs one more round of this GemOx chemo (he's getting it now) and then he will be ready to start the preparation process for the stem cell transplant. 

I am feeling so emotional and overcome with joy. I could cry any second from the relief that took over as soon as the shock wore off. 

We've had so much bad, or not what we hoped for, type of news for so long, that this feels surreal. This is what we have been hoping for, and for the first time in a long time, it came true!

We were talking about the last time we got good news. It was after the first biopsy in November, after the doctor told us it was lymphoma, and then the day before Thanksgiving, a nurse called to tell us it wasn't lymphoma. I bawled my eyes out from relief. I was shocked and so happy. Our families celebrated. But it was false good news. It was lymphoma. They were wrong. There is nothing fake about these results today though. I have the CT report in my hand. We've felt knocked down and kicked around so many times in the past 9 months, but today we are CELEBRATING! 

I felt it in my soul these past couple weeks that this chemo was working. Mike was seeming like his old self, other than being a little more tired. (And being home to drive me crazy, haha) His boisterous voice and laugh, his attitude, his jokes. He was leaving the house (yay!) and he cleaned my car. I felt like he was coming back to us, and I have been reveling in it.

I'm so happy today that I don't even care or remember how much anxiety I had yesterday and the day before. Isn't it crazy how fast things can change? Wednesday afternoon we got a call that they cancelled the pet scan for Thursday due to insurance denying it. They had a peer to peer discussion between the doctors & insurance company, but BCBS still denied it. The doctor decided to do a CT and hope that it gave him the answers he needed. I can't tell you how relieved I am that this all worked out so well! Mike will still need to get another PET scan done before transplant, but I'm not going to worry about that right now. Nothing is stealing my joy today. Not even an insurance company. 

We still don't know who will be his stem cell donor, but I'm positive they will find someone. We are waiting on further testing on his brother to find out if he is a match. 

Mike isn't cured yet, but we are on the right path, finally! And today, that is reason enough to be ecstatic. 

Thank you to everyone who's helped us get this far. We love you. 

Xo

Robin