She Said - He Said

“We all possess the thunder of pure fury and the calm breeze of tranquility. If it wasn't for tomorrow, how much would we get done today? Whatever your purpose... embrace it completely. Get lost in the clouds every now and then so you never lose sight of God's wonder - Paul Vitale”

Well it is becoming VERY apparent that Mike himself is here on this earth today and GOD continues to have much more in store for him – we are truly embracing his purpose!

It was a VERY eventful day today at MD & unlike last time, we surely skipped out of the hospital doing cart-wheels and praising The LORD above! As always, and in every email I stress how Mike and I both, though we have complete faith in GOD’s plans for us, as humans, we fill with anxiety and before each “result” visit, with Cancer being a disease with its own mind and plan – GOD surely has proven to us time and time again – HIS PLAN IS THE ONLY ONE WE NEED TO FOCUS ON – SCREW CANCER!

Our first appointment of the day was with Dr. Tsao. She and Nurse Vikki literally walked in the exam room with smiles, giggles and even a slight skip in their step! She said immediately that Mike’s results were awesome! The cancer is shrinking incredibly and fast! She went on to say (after a little prying and questioning) since this is Mike’s one year mark of being diagnosed, we were curious with him doing so well --- what were her thoughts. Sitting there with a HUGE grin on her face, she proceeded to remind us when Mike first came in with his original diagnosis, that most patients are given a prognosis of 6-9 months. (I myself will NEVER forget that day). She went on to say that Mike is well past that mark and he is doing SO very well and he is a Miracle, one of the lucky ones, and to this day still awes her of how great he is doing. She said with much confidence that she feels Mike WILL beat this and be Cancer Free!! Halleluiah! Of course we know how tricky cancer is and it does truly have a mind of its own, but so does our GOD and he has placed us with the very best team of doctors at MD and the very best medicines to treat his Cancer, that they all feel very comfortable with his progress and see it only going up from here!! They will continue to take whatever it takes, new medicines as technology progresses (which she said is really one of the chemos that is helping Mike – something that has recently come out in the past few months) and she only believes that new and improved will surface and if he can take, he will get it! (Oh and the new spot that I reported a few emails ago that appeared on this spleen – it’s gone!)

Well after that visit it was on to What He said. Our visits with Dr. Grove’s have always been great and that is one visit we do approach with much confidence, but still had a few butterflies. Dr. Groves along with Mike’s clinical trial team came in and shared the good news of Mike still remaining free and clean of ANY cancer cells in the spinal fluid, the brain and the area of his surgery is spotless along with his optic nerve (which months ago almost caused Mike to lose his sight). He too after doing the regular brain and nervous system exercises just paused and looked at Mike and said you are a miracle – his clinical team nurse shook her head in much agreement! However, the cancer long ago we knew had spread to the bones, and at this time, he still has many metastases on his spinal BONE, but they are shrinking and the others are stable and not spreading. It was something that we were aware of and just another part of this disease that we will continue to fight and kick right outta Mike’s body. I went on to ask Dr. Groves since Mike is receiving the Avastin for the brain and spine through a clinical trial (which will be up in December), what would we expect? Since he is doing SO well, when the trial is up, he will extend Mike’s treatment so he can still receive the Avastin as long as he is doing so well with it --- that is if he EVEN still has Cancer! Also, they mentioned that Mike is the only one left on this clinical trial…I did not dig too much, as to if he is the only survivor on this path, or just the last one to join and still be on…it sounded as if Mike is the “miracle” and left it at that.

Mike does undergo the Mega-Chemo tonight, so as I know you will, please keep him in your prayers for minimal side effects. I am telling you, that trip to Florida did something to him and even the Drs admired his tan and his carefree attitude today – he remains in a good, good place!

In closing, to you all that send such inspirational messages, emails, phone calls and of course all the Face book messages, know and do not forget that all of these inspire Mike and I every day. Days that we may not feel so strong, just a message or call from you, makes it all better. This fight is not quite over yet, but we know without a doubt, Mike C’s time here is far from over!!!! I also appreciate all of the kind words of my journey with MD Anderson Cancer Wise Blog. My first post will appear July 25th and every month after that – it is still so surreal, and I just pray that I can be an inspiration to someone that is going through what Mike is or to the caregiver that is going through what I am…it is a HUGE network and I feel completely blessed for us to be a part of it!

Kisses, Hugs and Unconditional love to you all!

XO Lyndie