An Ending and A Beginning

Well, yesterday was my final radiation treatment! Hooray! I am so relieved to have that behind me. My fingers are crossed that this is it for me. I know that there is always a chance that cancer can return- it will be something that will be with me forever, but I am very hopeful that everything has worked for now. I am not going to spend my time worrying about a relapse. If it happens, it happens. There is treatment available and I will deal with it if/when I need to. No sense living with the black cloud of cancer hanging over my head!

So now I wait about 6 weeks and then I will get a new scan to see if I am in remission. I will be followed every few months and scanned regularly for the next 5 years. After that my chances of recurrence lessen and after 10 years I will be considered "cured". *(On a side note I want to say congratulations to my old friend Todd who not only recently got married- but also has reached the 10 year point since he had Hodgkin Lymphoma!! Great news!)

It will be nice to not need radiation. I am looking forward to my throat feeling better, not being tired and for my skin to heal (it is like having a bad itchy sunburn). On the other hand- I still get to get up early every morning and make the drive to the hospital because Pat started radiation treatment yesterday! Luckily all the nurses, doctors and staff at radiation-oncology are the BEST there is and it will be nice to see them for 3 more weeks.

Pat has had several rounds of very tough chemo- with difficult side effects- that has kept the cancer in his chest from growing or spreading. Unfortunately, the cancer was not getting smaller and was beginning to give Pat some related health issues. His doctors decided to try a short course of radiation to see if it shrinks the disease and alleviates some of Pat's discomfort. As usual, we are hopeful. I am more hopeful with the radiation since that is what worked to kick the same kind of tumor in his head. In the meantime, his doctor is looking into some alternative chemotherapy without so many side effects. Aaah...it's always something! :)

We will just keep plugging along and continue taking things one day at a time. I do want to give a very heartfelt and BIG thank you to our family and many friends who have stuck by us and supported us throughout this journey so far. It means more than we can say to have your friendship, frequent phone calls, funny cards, emails, care packages, giftcards and especially prayers. You know who you are and we could not have gotten through this so far without you all!! You play a big part in keeping us going and making sure that our LIFE IS GOOD! {{{HUGS}}}

Today's Glass Half-Full: "A friend is the one who comes in when the whole world has gone out." ~Grace Pulpit