Happy News Today

Today, I received the delightful news that my CT scan found no new cancer, and the cancer that was already there is stable! That means my treatment is working, and I should be able to stay on it another three months before they scan me again. I'm so excited to know that I should be able to have another three months on a drug that causes very little nausea and whose side effects mostly fall under bothersome and annoying, like the cough, mouth sores, dry eyes, and fatigue. What a relief!

I do caveat this with "should be able to," because I have my brain MRI on Friday to see if anything new has popped up there. I'm hopeful that nothing has, because I've had a couple of good scans in a row now. Also, my oncologist told me that Datroway (my current treatment) just published some clinical trial results showing that it works against brain mets (which is amazing because the blood/brain barrier stops most drugs from penetrating the brain and any tumors there). Also, there's the possibility that even if my brain MRI shows new cancer, I'll be able to do the gamma knife surgery and stay on my current treatment. So, lots of reasons to hope. I should have the brain MRI results next week.

I would greatly appreciate prayer for peace during the brain MRI - 12:30 on Friday. They put my head in a cage and screw it to the MRI table to make sure I stay completely still. Then I get to slide into that lovely narrow tube enclosure and try not to get claustrophobic. I take anxiety medicine, pray a lot, recite scripture, and sing songs about God's presence with me to keep me calm, and I would love it if you would lift me up as well!

Thank you for rejoicing with me!