trick or TREAT!!!

No tricks from Dr. Tauer's office today! We got a major treat! Mom's scan was completely unchanged, meaning the enlarged lymph nodes are still showing up but have not changed at all in over 3 months . . . and also meaning the rest of her scan (i.e., her liver and other probable sites for metastasis) was completely clear!

Though it wasn't an "all clear", every scan that shows those nodes as "unchanged" is more evidence that they're not cancer. : ) Dr. Tauer's exact words were "It looks great!" He was very encouraged and is just as amazed by God's goodness as the rest of us. He said Mom looks better and better every time he sees her. We actually talked more about more non-cancer stuff than we did about cancer stuff, which is always a good sign. Mom's tumor markers will take a few days to come back, so be praying for those to be normal.

Mom's next scan will be January 10, 2012. Dr. T was comfortable waiting 4 months for another scan. We opted for 3 months, which really turned into more like 2 months after they coordinated it with her Herceptin schedule.

Go ahead and start praying about the scan in January, and send up lots of prayers of thanksgiving for the awesome news we received today! God has definitely showed us His glory!

Oh, and happy Halloween from Jamier and Jamal! : )

(Jamier on the left, Jamal on the right . . . in case you couldn't tell.)

pink and purple and blessed all over

Oh, hey, friends. My name is Callie. Remember me?

Sorry my blog has been rather boring lately. If it makes you feel any better, I've been working on a really long and awesome story (a true story, that is) that I've been meaning to post for like two months now. But first an update on your favorite blog hog, Trish . . .

First of all, it's breast cancer awareness month and almost pancreatic cancer awareness month. And how cool is it that I just found a graphic with both pink and purple ribbons? It's like it was made for Trish! Did I really just get excited about that? Yep, I really did.

I actually have no update yet. I just wanted to remind everyone to be praying, because my mom's next CT scan/appointment with her oncologist is TOMORROW! Happy Halloween! Who wants to make bets on what Dr. Tauer will be dressed as? Twenty bucks says he's Mickey Mouse. Or a pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell (now that's scary!). It's definitely going to be one of those.

As you long-time Tricia fans already know, we've been watching (well, technically Dr. T and radiology have been watching) three enlarged lymph nodes in Mom's chest and abdomen for about 3 1/2 months now. We have no idea if those lymph nodes are cancer or not. Her last CT scan was two months ago, and it was unchanged from her scan in July. If you need a refresher about her last appointment, click here.

Trish saw Dr. Behrman (surgeon) last month, and he was so pleased with her Whipple recovery that he doesn't want to see her again for a year! He also didn't seem the least bit concerned about the enlarged lymph nodes. Mom's tumor markers in August were normal (for both breast cancer and pancreatic cancer). The routine blood work that's done every three weeks (when she gets Herceptin) has been normal. And she's still looking and feeling great! So, while we have no idea what to expect tomorrow, we're very hopeful that we will receive more good news. I told Mom a few minutes ago that I'm starting to worry because I'm not worried. Weird.

Anyway, here are the requests for tomorrow . . .

• A clear (or unchanged) scan. We're expecting those mystery lymph nodes to show up; we're just hoping they haven't changed. And those of us who are really crazy are hoping God has fixed this problem completely and we'll get an "all clear!" : )
• Normal tumor markers
• Wisdom for Dr. Tauer
• Peace for our hearts 
• God's glory to be revealed

We'll talk to Dr. Tauer and get the results of the scan tomorrow. I'll be at the clinic with Trish and will post the results as soon as I can. The tumor markers will take a few days.

Thanks for praying!

Halle is three.

I got a surprise phone call a couple of days ago, and a tiny voice on the other end of the line said, "I want to see you."

The sweetest little girl in Iowa turned three today (did I mention they moved to Iowa? They did. In May. Hence her wanting to see me.). Not a day goes by that I don't think of her, miss her, and pray for her.

It's hard to believe that three October 5th's ago, I'd never even heard of her.