Grey area
Okay, so some good news and some so-so news.
The big tumor on the right side has shrunk by half so far, and may shrink more as radiation effects continue over time. There's a big grey area on the CT scan that is a lot smaller now than it was two months ago. Hallelujah!
The little grey spot on the left has shrunk some, but it's still there. We were hoping it would be gone so that the surgery might be a stronger option. And there are a few small spots that could be nothing, could be something.
So all in all, we don't know much more than we did this morning as far as treatment options. The surgeon and the radiation oncologist were to talk tonight and I'll hear tomorrow whether they recommend surgery (right lung removal) or not.
We also heard today a couple of options for chemo--one of which is an experimental drug (an mtor inhibitor). The other option would be a combination of adriamycin and taxol. Apparently my oncologist has had a lot of success with sarcoma and that combination of drugs, so that's good news. In order to try the mtor inhibitor, though, we'd have to try it first, so we may try that for eight weeks and see if it's effective.
So our decisions right now are neither black nor white.
In any case, we're going up to New York on Sunday for a week so that we can get a second opinion at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, where there is an expert sarcoma team.
So thank you for your prayers, and we'll keep you updated. Please pray for wisdom as we go forward--God promises to give anyone wisdom who asks. And he promises that those who wait on the Lord will be satisfied. Thank you for waiting with us, especially when we can't see more than a step or two ahead--
The chapter goes on and on about God's love for us and his deep knowledge of us. And that's what we so desire--to be known deeply and lovingly. He knows us so well, Paul says, that the Holy Spirit prays for us when we don't even know what to pray for. And that's part of what makes waiting on God okay--we're waiting for a God who knows us intimately and loves us deeply. So we CAN wait, because we know he's going to act out of that mindset.
And so I guess that's pretty black and white after all.
The big tumor on the right side has shrunk by half so far, and may shrink more as radiation effects continue over time. There's a big grey area on the CT scan that is a lot smaller now than it was two months ago. Hallelujah!
The little grey spot on the left has shrunk some, but it's still there. We were hoping it would be gone so that the surgery might be a stronger option. And there are a few small spots that could be nothing, could be something.
So all in all, we don't know much more than we did this morning as far as treatment options. The surgeon and the radiation oncologist were to talk tonight and I'll hear tomorrow whether they recommend surgery (right lung removal) or not.
We also heard today a couple of options for chemo--one of which is an experimental drug (an mtor inhibitor). The other option would be a combination of adriamycin and taxol. Apparently my oncologist has had a lot of success with sarcoma and that combination of drugs, so that's good news. In order to try the mtor inhibitor, though, we'd have to try it first, so we may try that for eight weeks and see if it's effective.
So our decisions right now are neither black nor white.
In any case, we're going up to New York on Sunday for a week so that we can get a second opinion at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, where there is an expert sarcoma team.
So thank you for your prayers, and we'll keep you updated. Please pray for wisdom as we go forward--God promises to give anyone wisdom who asks. And he promises that those who wait on the Lord will be satisfied. Thank you for waiting with us, especially when we can't see more than a step or two ahead--
"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. ...
For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
[And] the Spirit helps us in our weakness." (from Romans
8)
The chapter goes on and on about God's love for us and his deep knowledge of us. And that's what we so desire--to be known deeply and lovingly. He knows us so well, Paul says, that the Holy Spirit prays for us when we don't even know what to pray for. And that's part of what makes waiting on God okay--we're waiting for a God who knows us intimately and loves us deeply. So we CAN wait, because we know he's going to act out of that mindset.
And so I guess that's pretty black and white after all.
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