prognosis so far

I went to the Oncologists office again today to find out my test results. He seemed very happy about it as he told me that YES I will be having surgery, probably the first week of January, and YES there will be at least 6 months of Chemo. I thought, "ugh, that's what I did NOT want" but then he went on to say that the cancer has not spread to my lungs, and it has not spread to my liver so I am probably not in stage 4 colon cancer at all. Which is the best news I could get right now. So that only leaves stage 2 or 3, which they will not be able to tell me until after the surgery.

Here are the things I know so far. The tumor is about 10cm diameter. They can't tell if its spread to the Lymph Nodes or not, but they will remove 11 (or maybe he said 13 I'm not sure now) that surround the tumor, no matter what. Testing negative for spreading on ALL of them will mean a regular kind of Chemotherapy. (Don't remember the name of it) A positive result on even one of them will mean a different kind of, more aggressive Chemo.

They do not start Chemo for quite a while after the surgery, because your body needs time to heal. When it does begin he plans on putting in a port up near my chest/neck area and using this pump that holds two weeks worth of medicine. So instead of having to have a whole weeks worth of medicine pumped into me all on one day, it will be administered at HOME every single day until it runs out. Then I go back and have it re-filled again.

So there it is for now. I see the surgeon to schedule the surgery next week. I'm happy not to have to think of, or worry about this for any more days before Christmas. I'm not looking forward to any of this, and truthfully I wish it was not happening at all. But the news could have been much worse, and Dr. Neidhart seems very optimistic about the whole thing so I guess if he thinks its not so bad, then that's a good sign.

Oh, I also have bronchitis...which is what I was thinking to begin with. They gave me a z-pack and I expect to feel better now in a few days. Praise the Lord for that.

On an up note...I would like to share with you what happened in the office today. I walked in and noticed a young woman, in her 30's with a fleece hat on her head...obviously having lost her hair. I smiled at her and said good morning, noting that she was DEFINATELY Navajo. She smiled and asked me if I was doing chemo too. I told her that I was not sure yet, but the doctor would tell me when I got back there.

This dear lady then started telling me all about what happened to her, how they found her cancer, how much its shrunk since she started and I got the distinct impression that I would easily be able to talk to her about the Lord. When I started to reach into my purse to pull out a tract, she was called into the back and gone before I could hand it to her. But it left me thinking about how easily she divulged the information about her life and health to me sitting there. So I began to look around this HUGE office and see several Natives coming in and out.

You see, cancer runs prevalent on the Reservation here due to the fact of the Uranium mines being here. In fact, several elderly actually worked IN the mines back during war time. My family actually lives on the exact spot that used to be where the planes flew in and out...we even have empty drums buried under our property here. (contributing factor to my problem? maybe, maybe not) Anyway, because of this...cancer is quite common here.

The secretary must have noticed our conversation...do you remember her? She is the one who prayed with me a few weeks ago and told me she was a believer. Well, she walked over and began to ask several questions about our church...where we are located ect.

I reached into my purse and took out about 6 or 7 tracts and handed them to her and asked her if she would be willing to give them to anyone in our area that seemed to be searching for answers. She was ECSTATIC about it! Asking how to tell people to get there ect.

I left feeling like God really does want me to be there, and it was confirmed about 30 minutes later when she called my cell phone and said 'Do you mind if I tell them that you have cancer? Would that be ok?' I told her, of course it would. I know God allowed it for a reason, and if it helps someone come to Christ then please do. She said 'That's good because I only have one tract left and I wanted to tell them about you' I told her to please feel free to make copies if she wanted and we got off the phone. Then I realized that she had given out at least 7 tract to Navajo folks who were suffering with cancer in less then 30 minutes.

Like I said earlier...I don't want to do this. I don't want to be sick, I don't want to be hurting, I don't like feeling weak and vulnerable...but I will do it. I have no choice. Its the path God has led me to, and for an obvious reason. I pray that I will not let Him down. There are so many, who obviously are hurting and in pain...the difference is, they do not have Christ, the comfort of the Holy Spirit, the love of a great church family, or the security of knowing that Heaven is waiting for them if things don't turn out right. I hope we can show them that cancer may be the best thing that ever happened to them...because if they are saved at the cancer center, they could have all that...and someday, never have to be sick or hurting ever again!  :o)

Happy Joy