Where do I begin?!?
I guess the punch lines:
Laura's endoscopy of her stomach showed cancer cells still remaining.
My tumor markers are normal so it looks like the treatment plan is having a positive effect.
Now a bit more details...
On Laura...here are her words from her CaringBridge website:
Hello family and friends,
Unfortunately, the results of the endoscopy were not what I had hoped for. The biopsies showed a fair amount of scar tissue along with a few malignant cells. I received this information in a phone message since my GI and oncologist are both on vacation (what do they think, it's summer?!) so I have questions for both of them when they get back in the next few days.
Certainly a few is better than a lot- for that I am thankful. I am also so grateful that I serve a God who is far bigger than my circumstances and has a far greater plan than mine (even though I often struggle to remind myself of this because I am a darn good planner!). I will rest in His promises and will trust in His plan. And, I will take each day as it comes, appreciating each and every one. And, I will hope, hope, hope that He will declare, Enough!- and restore to health my body and Kristie's body one day very soon.
Thank you for your prayers- keep them coming.
Love,
Laura
On Me...The not-so-good surprise today came with her more thorough explanation of tumor flare and what is probably really going on in my body. In essence, there is cancer all throughout my spine, sternum, hips, pelvis, ribs, etc and not just in my left hip/femur. The reason it wasn't seen on the first bone scan in May was probably because it was too small. The Tamoxifen and menopause pill (BTW guesses are still coming in as to how much it costs so I'll reveal the final answer and the winner in the next day or so!) have caused a temporary activation of those cells and so they can now be seen on a bone scan.
Fabulous news, right? Hmm not so much....
The good news is that it appears - because my tumor markers are normal - that the Tamoxifen is working to control the cancer in all those places. She isn't certain about the fact that I have pain in my bones in places where I didn't have pain back in May, but the hypothesis we're working under right now is that the pain is actually due to bony turnover, or the beginnings of healing in my bones. This hypothesis will be tested next month when I get another bone scan. If the scan looks worse than it did last month, then we have a problem. If it looks about the same, then we keep with the current treatment plan.
So, I'm doing pretty well. Laura's doing pretty well. Both of us are wondering why.
No, we know why.
She says it best...we serve a God far bigger than our circumstances...
K.
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