Skip to main content

Complete Response

Last night Sid went to the Huntsman for his scheduled CT scan. This afternoon he spoke with his doctor to discuss the results. Dr. Nevala had mentioned at their last appointment that he was anticipating good things when his next CT appointment came around. 

HE WAS RIGHT!!!

Everything has continued to shrink; so much so that the lymph node up by his trachea hardly lit up in the scan. He is literally having a "best case scenario" response, or as Dr. Nevala put it, a complete response. In the trial study that Sid's treatment has been based off of, 11% were considered to fall into that category.

If it's not broke, don't fix it. So, Sid will stay on his current treatment plan for at least the next year; chemo pills, immuno and targeted therapy infusion every 3 weeks, and regular CT and echocardiogram scans. 

So many thoughts are racing through my head. Overall there's just so much gratitude. I should probably take time to more thoroughly record my thoughts somewhere for a personal reflection. We've gained so much thus far; better appreciation for the important things, empathy for others, more desire to alleviate others in their struggles like the many who have lifted us... 

Recently I was pondering on the stories where Christ healed someone of blindness. One thought I had was how incredible it would be to have the first thing I saw be the face of the Savior. 

Though I have not had my darkened eyes healed to reveal a loving face, I have had many occasions (particularly in the last 7 months) of the darkness lifting and me "seeing" Him. 

"Oh, that day when freed from sinning

I shall see Thy lovely face

Clothed then in blood washed linen

How I'll sing Thy sovereign grace...

...Oh, to grace how great a debtor

Daily I'm constrained to be

Let Thy goodness like a fetter

Bind my wandering heart to Thee

Prone to wander, Lord I feel it

Prone to leave the God I love

Here's my heart, oh take and seal it

Seal it for Thy courts above"




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Miraculous

After a miraculous stay at the hospital, Sid was discharged on Thursday - exactly one week from his surgery. I use "miraculous" very intentionally. There isn't a logical reason for Sid to be healing so well. We were told his stay would most likely be 10-14 days.  I should make mention that the obvious blessings apparent in this journey do not (and have not) always help us avoid difficulties. The first night home was incredibly hard. The instant shift from having a professional nurse monitoring all of Sid's meds, food, wound care, etc to us taking on all of that responsibility, was... overwhelming. Every department sends you home with a literal packet of info to read and there are some discrepancies on how to handle certain care. I consider myself a very capable person and I also have a decent background in medical care between my days as an EMT and my college job at the plasma center. It was still a lot to have thrust on us all at once. But with some good planning and...

A Walking Miracle

Today we finally moved out of limbo and have a plan of action! We met with Dr. Contreras again this morning who is a thoracic surgeon at Huntsman. We really like him as a person and as a professional. We've collectively made the decision to move forward with Sid getting the surgery done. If you're curious the procedure is specifically called an Ivor Lewis Esophagectomy. This will happen on June 5th.  We were told that Sid is likely less than 1 or 2 percent of patients who have started with metastatic disease with response to treatment and now being treated as if it were a localized cancer. Sid responded that he fully attributes this to Divine intervention as a result of the many prayers said on his and our behalf. Dr. Contreras completely agreed. Truly a walking miracle.  Generally, this surgery entails removing the lower third (more or less) of his esophagus, upper section of the stomach (which will permanently reshape the stomach into a tube shape), and the surrounding lymph...

Surgery

Yesterday was surgery day.  There was much stress and anxiety leading up to it. Honestly, for me, the most stress was in preparing to leave and much of that was alleviated once we got the kiddos sent of with Grandma and left the house ourselves.  We left Wednesday night and stayed that evening with Sid's mission president. It was a really good night due to our time in the temple and chatting with them.  We had a very early start to our day. Check in at the hospital was at 6:00. Surgery time officially started at 8:27 and I received the last text update at 4:41 saying it was done. If you include when they started the sedation process which started around 7:30, it was a 9 hour long procedure. What a work day for the medical staff!  When we got to the hospital, I felt a sense of anticipation, but I don't remember feeling scared or even nervous. As soon as I left the prep room and he started being wheeled back I just felt peace.  I know so many were praying; praying...