If there were a competition for...

If there were a competition for finding cancer lumps, Pam might just be in the running for world champion because she keeps finding them. It was probably Sunday when Pam started probing areas on her chest. Three spots didn't feel quite right to her. With chemo (Taxol/Avastin) scheduled to begin Monday Feb. 2nd, Pam really wanted her doctor to have a look. She saw him this morning (here she is at the cancer center on the phone). He stopped short of proclaiming anything official. Unofficially, one was explained away, kind of what Pam thought. Another, the one that was not round in shape, rather tubular (yes, even someone "shapeblind" like me can tell round from long & ropelike...shapeblind is a term assigned to me by our nearly 9 yr. old daughter at dinner two nights ago as I mistakenly saw a trianglular object as round) is on the not-too-worried-but-watch list. It was just that little hard round one that drew the most attention by the doctor and his nurse. While it was reassuring to have actual medical people give opinions, it is a bit disappointing to have anything show up so soon after the surgery removing the last three tumors.


The plan is to proceed as scheduled with chemotherapy beginning on Monday. The lump(s) will be watched very closely for any increase or decrease in size and shape. I believe that either of those actions (growing or shrinking) will say a lot. Sadly, either probably means they are cancer. The silver lining...shrinking will be a great indicator of the effectiveness of the treatment. Growth, don't want to see that. So here, you know how to pray in a specific way. We are praying for complete destruction of any and all cancer cells/tumors through this chemo and the following treatments. What chemo only shrinks or stops from growing, let the radiation that is coming finish the job and destroy completely.


As I have said before, our faith is the most important thing in our lives. We are serious about prayer. We also don't treat prayer like a genie's lamp. We ask, knowing that the answer might come in an entirely different way than we expect. Believe me, Pam has been through a lot. We have seen answered prayers and those answers aren't always shaped the way we expected. Evens the field for the shapesighted vs. shapeblind.

The pink bracelets are coming back out. Haven't worn them for a long time. This time it is going to serve as a reminder to pray. It will start on the left wrist with the first treatment and switch to the right for the second, then back to the left (odd treatment left, even right). Hopefully, Pam will be able to complete the 12 cycles and the bracelet will end up on the right, away from her cancer plagued left side.


Expect another post Monday.