Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Good News – Bad News

Last Friday I had a routine visit to the oncologist’s office for blood work. I also had my annual mammogram. Dr. Cook (the oncologist) told me that my blood work looked better than it ever has since I’ve been her patient. My red blood cell counts have doubled, and otherwise the lab results were beautiful. I found out that Dr. Cook has attended at least one seminar on treating cancer with a raw vegetarian (alkaline) diet, and she was positively impressed by what she learned. Dr. Schroeder (the doctor who handles mammograms) scared me when he said more imaging needed to be done - that usually means something ominous showed up in the first pictures -, but it turned out that the technician who took the original pictures had failed to take one that is part of my prescribed imaging. The additional imaging was done, and everything looks great.

Monday morning, Dr. Cook called me with further results from the blood work. A tumor marker (that’s the blood count that indicates a growing tumor) has risen from about 30 to over 200. Barring a mistake in the blood work, that means the cancer has returned. I will be having a PET scan at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow (Thursday) morning and a follow-up visit with the oncologist on Friday. Chemotherapy is her recommended course of treatment, but I’m not interested in doing that again. We have already begun to check out a lifestyle center near us in Loveland, Colorado, that uses several alternative therapies to treat cancer. Treatment at any lifestyle center requires a stay of several weeks, so a lot of details will have to fall into place for that option to work for us, but we are praying about it. We would appreciate many folks praying along with us about all of this.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Saw this in our prayer bulletin tonight so checked your blog to get more info. Praying for you!!
Johnette Christ - Hampton Park

ColoMeli said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Amy, we prayed for you tonight @ FBC Steamboat. Will continue to pray for you in days ahead, as He walks you through what He has in store. His grace will be enough, and we're praying that is your family's reality.

Melinda Clark

Matt and Emily Sealy said...

Our family as well as our church are praying for you!

CNA Momma said...

Amy,
We are certainly praying for you and your family as you make decisions in the next few days.
Ken and Tammy Carter

Sheri DalPorto said...

Praying for you!!! We love you!

Donna said...

Earnestly praying for grace and strength and a miracle on today's PET.
drb

Jo Ann Vargo said...

Our family is praying for you as you make these decisions and for healing!

Anonymous said...

Our prayers continue for you for His grace, good quality life. He will lead you in the best way.

Jessica Baker said...

Praying for you today!

thefedssc said...

Praying for extra measures of God's grace during this time, Amy.

Kimberly M said...

As a mom of 7 who is stage 4 from the get go, I can sympathize. i was diagnosed in Oct 2009. Please know that I am praying for you and your family.

Kimberly M said...

As a mom of 7 who is stage 4 from the get go, I can sympathize. i was diagnosed in Oct 2009. Please know that I am praying for you and your family.

Anonymous said...

God has the plan. i hope and pray you and your beautiful family have many more blessed days on this earth. love and God bless you all Sharon Salman Broomfield, Colo.