We have two good things to report this week. The big one is that in our Wednesday meeting, our oncologist gave us more information from last week's CAT scan, and it is quite positive and encouraging. You may recall that the February scan (after our first series of chemotherapy treatments) showed little if any effect beyond what the radiation had accomplished—so the doctor changed to a more aggressive regimen. This time, the scan shows substantial improvement in every specific item, as far as we can tell from what the scan reader's report indicates. The lymph nodes are reduced in size; for example, one in the "mediastinum" (central chest cavity) which had measured 2.2 cm is now 1.23 cm, and in the lungs one nodule which was 2.5 cm is now 5 mm. And extra fluids in the lungs "have resolved," and "no new pulmonary nodules are present." All of those items (and some other details with which I will not trouble you) sound good to us. We're not experts, and we remain warned by our medical folk that this cancer is "treatable, not curable"—but this report at least suggests that we may be moving toward keeping the disease "at bay" (our social worker's phrase) for a while. So, as W.S. Gilbert wrote in The Mikado, "modified rapture"!
In addition, Steve drove himself to The Gathering Place (about a 20-minute drive) for his Reiki appointment this week, and was reminded of the increased freedom he felt at age 16 when he first got his driver's license. (When he drove for the first time a couple of weeks ago, it was much shorter and with me also in the car.) We have signed up for a Tai Chi class at The Gathering Place starting next week, so then we will also have some organized exercise—the first since taking leave from the Cleveland Hiking Club. We continue to have visits and support from friends and family, and to be overwhelmingly grateful for all of them. Thanks to all of you for checking in on us. And if you haven't visited yet (or recently), please feel free to get in touch and let us know when you might like to stop by!
--Carol
