06-18-2011 Saturday

Greetings and salutations! : ) It has been quite a busy week. Early Monday morning I went to visit Lynette at Covenant and get another CT Scan of my lungs to see how treatment is progressing. Then on Thursday, Catherine and I headed to the CCTC (Covenant Cancer Treatment Center) for the morning. I had gave blood and urine samples before doing a follow up with Dr. Masri. My blood counts are all holding pretty good and the CT Scan gave us good news. Of the three masses in my right lung, one was quite a bit smaller than the 04-25-2011 CT Scan, one changed to a more round shape and was slightly smaller, and the third had remained the same size. The mass in my left chest/breast was also the same size as well. At first I was kind of disappointed that they hadn't ALL shrunk but Dr. Masri pointed out that I am now in a "maintenance cycle" and the goal is to shrink the masses if possible but to definitely "maintain" their size... we don't those nasty things getting bigger! That made feel alot more positive about the results! After that I had my treament, which only took a couple of hours and then we got to go home. Eli spent the afternoon with us too which made our day even more special! Then, last night I went to the Relay For Life walk at Hawkeye Community College. I was truly impressed! It was extremely organized, free food was provided to cancer survivors (my cancer isn't gone but I am surviving so I'm considered a Survivor) and their caregivers, I got a free "Survivor" t-shirt, and walked my first "survivor lap". Not an event anyone really wants to participate in but it was an honor for me. As we all walked the lap, the spectators and team members applauded all of us all along the route. It felt kind of strange to be applauded for being sick but it was truly moving to have them appreciate the mental and physical strength needed for all of us to become survivors. I also ran into a bunch of old friends and classmates (most of whom were team supporters and not survivors thank the Lord) and got to chat for a while with them. You truly felt the support and compassion of your fellow man and the presence of God. He truly is an awesome God and I believe He is guiding the efforts of researchers to find a cure for this disease. Have a blessed week everone and all you fathers (including my son this year... woo hoo!) have a safe and happy Father's Day. God Bless.