Tears

First of all, we want to thank all of your for your continuing prayers and concern as Ed has been going through chemo. He had a CAT scan on Wednesday and we were to meet with the doctor today to learn if the comparison with his scans in October showed shrinkage of the tumors.

Yesterday was a nightmare, starting with a call from the radiologists here saying that the CD he'd brought from our hospital in Virginia only had one X-ray on it and that couldn't be compared to the contrast CAT scan taken on Wednesday. Thus, began a day of calls to Virginia, trips to the radiologists' office, and showing them the label that clearly listed every test, scan, etc. he'd ever had in Virginia was on that CD. He was very frustrated but asked that they look at the CD again and try to open it. If it was really blank, the hospital in Virginia would overnight another one. Ed called the doctor and said he might as well cancel his visit for today until we could get the information needed. The nurse checked and said he still wanted to see Ed today.

We got to the doctor this morning and after the usual bloodwork, the PA (Physician's Assistant, a real cutie) came in and interviewed him as to how he's been feeling (He's been feeling fine.), etc.. The report she had said they could not make a comparison because.......... When Ed explained to her what had taken place, she said she'd go check the computers to see if anything more had come through.

Meanwhile, Dr. Dennis came in and he had the same report. Then he lifted the page to find another page of an "Addendum report" which said "Prior exam has become available for comparison...." Well, lo and behold!! We loved the phrasing "has become available" --- meaning what? That they looked at the CD again and magically it appeared??!

Then came the tears - tears of total joy - "Present CT scan clearly shows some improvement in multiple lung masses and nodules" !!!

He will have two more rounds of treatment which will finish on January 30th, which is the day our stay at this resort ends and we will head to the west coast of Florida. We're happy to be with family and friends here but find the congestion and traffic to be overwhelming, so we're looking for something less congested but not too far from a city large enough to have an oncologist or two.

The doctor can't give a prognosis because everyone is different. He has a patient who was also stage 4 lung cancer worse than Ed's and he's still here 4-5 years later, with chemo from time to time. Ed's cancer cannot be cured but chemo should be able to keep shrinking anything that grows.....for however long it can......

God is good and I am thanking Him and all his doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel, as well as our friends and family who prayed to help make this happen. I think I'll sleep better tonight than I have in a long time, knowing that God is going to let me keep my "Angel man" around a while longer!!!