Linda's GO appointment: Good News

Hello everyone. Friday was my wife's appointment with her gynecological oncologist. We've been going for treatments to a hospital closer to us (a good decision) but retained the GO for supervision and the fact that he's been treating her since 2005. This was my wife's third go-round with chemo, Cisplatin and Taxotere. The weird thing was that her fingernails started bruising. Dark purple bands across her nails and they hurt her doing the simplest thing. The medical oncologist and nursing staff at our chemo hospital took that very seriously and halted chemo two weeks ago. So we waited (a big part of cancer treatment, as we all know, are the waits for this or that) to go see the gynecological oncologist.

The predicating circumstance this time however was good news. The CT Scan from 3 weeks ago showed that the tumor near her colon was completely gone. We've learned to accept such news with measured amounts of gratitude and relief. When the GO examined her said, "Amazing. The tumor's gone."

Linda said, "Well, didn't we know that from the CT scan?"

"Yes," he replied. "But sometimes I can feel if there's something left. But there's not."

They discussed a number of other things; her history and some friends we've lost just recently to ovarian cancer. My college roommate's wife, for one. And a dear woman with 5 children Linda met several years ago in an ovarian support group. Throughout this round of treatment we've experienced many difficult things but also blessings in support from both those close to us, and total strangers. We are so tremendously humbled by all that's happened to us and for us that we simply want to wish everyone well in their journey with this disease. Because it is a journey, and we know the story probably is not ended. But for now Linda has a prognosis that is encouraging.

After some more discussion she asked the doctor, "What about chemo?"

"What about it?" he replied. "There's no empiric evidence that says doing more now will give you any added benefit. So the choice is yours, but you don't have to."

We are taking a break and saying prayers of thanks that the chemo, difficult as it is to tolerate, has again done its job. We'll focus our attention on family and the Christmas season. We've been through both Christmases and Easters (including one Easter Sunday in the emergency room for a mishandled interperitoneal Taxol treatment) and so we're grateful and hopeful that this might somehow stick. You'd think the cancer would get sick of trying.

For now I say, "Way to go, Linda." I can't repeat the language one of my friends left on my cell phone, a message of joyous profanity. Ya gotta love it.

God Bless. And I hope you all beat this blankety blank cancer some how or another.

Chris and Linda