This morning

By -
You could have pulled a gun on me and I would have laughed at you. Nothing I've ever experienced even remotely compares to my anxiety over these test results. I have never been so afraid of anything in my entire life.
But the news is good! She has only the one mass that we knew about and nothing more. Her mother hugged the doctor, which was awkward... but I wanted to do the same thing.
She is so strong and amazing. This will be a bad memory before we know it.

Comments

Cousin Karla said…
HOORAY!!! That's fantastic news. Michael and I are SO relieved for you all.
November 7, 2011 at 9:44 AM
jim nelson said…
Ryan...Thank you soooo much for taking care of my little girl. You and she both mean the world to me!
November 7, 2011 at 11:15 AM
r'n'r-RN said…
both of you are strong and amazing.
November 7, 2011 at 11:18 AM
jim nelson said…
I AM GRATEFUL!

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have into enough, and more.
It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity...
It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing,
and mistakes into important events.
Gratitude makes sense of our past,
brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow."

From my friend, Michael Gerber. www.mgerber.blogspot.com
November 7, 2011 at 12:12 PM
UltraDawn said…
yay! phoebe wins! i knew it!
November 7, 2011 at 12:25 PM
Anouschka said…
That's awesome news!!! I almost cried when I read this... what a relief!
November 7, 2011 at 12:58 PM
Jim Dustin said…
Just huge, great news Ryan and Phoebe! Now you can get down to the mechanics of radiation and the chemo. My wife was fitted with a port, which is just a fixed IV under the skin to facilitate hooking up for blood samples or receiving chemotherapy easier. Hers is up near the collar bone as she still gets some designer drug maintenance for a few more months every few weeks. She had her Chemo administered with a little pump, about the size of an older digital camera. It was juiced up for running five days at a time 24/7 in tiny, steady doses and carried with a shoulder strap like a purse. Weekends it came off friday afternoon and then repeated on Monday for several weeks. Her cocktail was primarily 5-FU. There are so many kinds, but if this is your therapy, my wife tolerated it very well. She could move around, but limited visitors and/or exposure to germs like going to a store. She was also given Zofran, which is an expensive, anti-nausea drug - which she was never sick once in 5 weeks. Insurance gave me a limited amount, but we augmented it with another anti-nausea drug (Ativan) that makes you a little drowsy as it's also a tranquilizer. You have to ask for these and be sort of firm that you do NOT want to be nauseous. My wife was actually more scared of being nauseous than having cancer! Go figure :) Also if it is 5-FU, her hair never fell out - only got slightly thinner in diameter. If it does, the local American Cancer Society will provide brand new wigs or scarf wrap hats for the asking. Just an easy sign up. Anyway, isolated tumor is (strangely) fantastic news and you are going to do great no matter what the docs are planning! Best thoughts and prayers to you both!
November 7, 2011 at 1:26 PM
jim nelson said…
Jim....you're the best. Thanks for all of your valuable information. Medical marijuana is not yet allowed in Ohio, but I have spoken with several people who have found relief from that source, as well Of course, we managed to find a lot of that relief back in the 70's! Haha. Thank you sooo much for contributing! With love and respect....j
November 7, 2011 at 1:50 PM
Ryan said…
legal schmeagal. I'm going to need a bag of weed just for me!

Her chemo is Cisplatin once a week. They have given her scrips for ativan some other unpronounceable anti-nausea drug... they will be giving her zofran with the IV from what I understand. The chemo is not particularly severe, it is to make the radiation more effective. They do not anticipate hair loss at all, but I'll have the sammy hagar wig ready anyway.
November 7, 2011 at 2:23 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Postponing Today's Planned Post...

By phoebe marie -
...because something else really got under my skin today and I clearly need to vent about it or I won't be able to focus enough to do the things I need to do today. So... let's go back in time, shall we, to late last summer.   One of my best friends ' first child was born with some issues.  Lil Spencer spent many a day in the NICU.  While he was there, his terrified mother and my dear friend repeatedly made requests on facebook and the like that if people were so inclined to pray for her newborn son.  Or if not the praying type, to send positive thoughts, good juju, whatever was right for them to send.  I liked that.  I liked the way she did that.  "Please do what makes sense for you and within your beliefs to send some hope to my child." Now jump ahead a few months to when I was sick.  From day one, people were praying for me.  To a god (or gods) I don't believe in - not even in the slightest.  But those prayers made sense for them ...
Read more

Wow!

By phoebe marie -
Image
So, let me tell you WHY I received this photo from knitting dad today: That's my mum. That's two glasses of champagne. And I received this at around noon their time. So why were my parents, who barely drink at all, swigging champagne for lunch today? Because of the news I got at today's follow-up appointment with my brachytherapy oncologist, Dr. Fleming. As I laid on the exam table, feet in the stirrups, he looked in there and announced "What a beautiful cervix." The nurse nodded in agreement. It was such an odd exchange, it took me a minute to register what they were saying... See, when Ryan booked this appointment for me last month (on the day of my final brachy) he asked them if they would be able to tell by today if the tumor was gone. And the answer was NO - that what they would see would be a necrotic, dying, sloughing away tumor. So really, we went in there today with no real expectations. So, when I finally wrapped my head around...
Read more

This is really happening, isn't it?

By phoebe marie -
When I first started this blog, I said something about feeling like this wasn't even happening to me.  I began this journey detached, not to mention completely unaware of what I was in for.  Well, at this point, there is no denying that this is 100% happening to me.  For the last two nights, I haven't even been able to separate from it all enough to just... sleep.  Every bit of "that area" feels like it is either on fire or just, like, disintegrating.  Literally.  My skin seems to just be falling off.  The blisters I've written about look almost gray in color.  At yesterday's appointment, the nurse examined me and decided that what it may be, rather than blisters, is a yeast infection.  Not in the traditional location, but just there in the folds of my skin.  Gross.  So, now I've added Monistat to the list of seemingly useless goops that I am smearing around my groin, none of which have helped in the slightest.  I als...
Read more