Where there's life, there's hope

Quick update. 

Last Monday we had Jacqui's appointment to get the results of the CT scan she'd had.

The results were not really what we wanted, but I am not really sure what we were expecting either.  So, to sum it up quickly, she had a CT scan in January, (the one that showed the tumors were growing and surgery wasn't an option) and then a PET scan in February, which confirmed this and showed that they'd grown a little more and then the latest one, that showed that although the spots have shrunk, they are still bigger than they were in January. 

So the good news is that they have stopped growing, and in fact have shrunk, but the bad news is they are not gone.   Now what?  Well her Dr. said they'll now treat her cancer as a chronic disease, they'll monitor her regularly with X-rays, CT scans and that type of thing and then treat her as needed when and if there are changes.  Possibilities are different types of chemo, radiation, surgery...miracles.

She had one last round of chemo this week (this type's effectiveness decreases with each round and the side effects increase with each round - so they didn't feel any more than 4 would be worthwhile especially since she's had so much trouble with side effects already).  True to form, it was very hard on her and it didn't make it easier knowing that it's less effective but still as hard to take. 

We were all a bit distraught at the results of the CT scan, but two bits of hope came during the week.  the first was when we were leaving the hospital on Monday, she bumped into the man that she had shared a room with during the last round.  He was diagnosed with a similar type of cancer 11 years ago and was told at that time that they could only treat him palliatively, no real hope and now it's 11 years later - not all easy - but as he told us when we were leaving last time "Where there's life, there's hope".  The other was when the Dr. came in to check on Jacqui during chemo and when she expressed some distress, he said, the news is not bad, the chemo is working, and we still have lots of options.  Little things, but little bits add up to greater hope. 

One day at a time.  We were talking about that the other day - it's much harder when you have no choice but to live one day at a time - when it's not just a good philosophy for how to live your life but how you have to live your life.

We have her home now and she is relieved to be done the chemo, and because hope is hard to lose - she is looking forward to feeling better again, getting back to work, making summer plans and growing some hair. 

And then we'll see...