"Clear"

I forcibly told James we needed some selfies to post about the great news today.  I've always felt supported by God and unable to rest in my own strength, but today God give us the gift of great hope. James and I went to my appointment with  Dr. Julia Cogburn at Florida Cancer Specialists in Tampa at 12:30pm this afternoon.   I FINALLY heard the words that we had been hoping and praying for since October 2nd, "Your PET scan is clear of cancer."  I don't think the brevity of the news sunk in until after we left the office.  We were told that the only possibly questionable spot on the PET scan (done on Saturday) was in the area where I had had 9 lymph nodes removed on Tuesday (due to a microscopic cancer found on the sentinel lymph node previously plus the PET scan "spot").  ALL 9 LYMPH NODES WERE 100 PERCENT FREE OF CANCER (even after dissection)!  So, the slightly questionable color in the lymph area on the PET was only due to inflammation from the previous lymph node removal.  This means no skin/tissue damaging radiation is needed!  This makes reconstruction much easier for the surgeon and also makes it a much quicker process.  The skin never heals completely after high dose radiation exposure, so this is great news! 

Also, the cancer genetics showed a 35-40 percent chance of cancer (in the breast or otherwise) recurrence with no further treatment, and less than 14 percent risk of recurrence with only 4 rounds of chemo and 5 years of hormone blockers (which I plan to take them for 10 years which will decrease the risk even more!).  This treatment will not be easy, but will kill precancerous cells in the lymphatic system and in the blood, and will also cut off what feeds my type of cancer in the breast tissue (estrogen).  Not all cancers will respond well to chemo, and not all will respond well to hormone blockers.  Thankfully mine is "beaten up" by both! Though my cancer is considered aggressive, it is moderately aggressive rather than super aggressive, requiring 4 rounds of less toxic chemo, rather than 8 rounds of super toxic chemo!  This is what we have been praying for.  My oncologist is also supportive of vitamin infusions between treatments to keep my body strong, and to keep my kidneys and heart healthy.  (We are in the process of trying to find physicians that perform these infusions for lower costs and/or take insurance for the treatments.)  Though we have a long road with a lot of difficulty ahead, we are joyful in knowing that God has taken care of the cancer in my body!  We are also thankful that He has given my doctors the knowledge of how to prevent it from coming back.  Cancer is not welcome here anymore!  . . . Big God . . . little cancer.   

We cannot thank you enough for your support an encouragement!  God has really blessed us in ways we certainly don't deserve.  Evidence is all around.  Please continue to pray for us as we embark on the chemotherapy journey (as well as treatments to prevent lymphodema)!