Archives for November 2016

TUESDAY WAS MC ROUND 2

It was still dark early Monday morning when we left Locust, NC.  It was a long drive home.  Traffic was lighter than it would have been Sunday but I was tired going into my chemo day.

Tuesday morning I was just not into this chemo thing.  I woke up feeling as if it was going to be a long hard day.  It was damp and rainy which did not help my spirits.  I reminded myself that God is Good All the Time and headed off to my oncologists office for treatment.

I arrived a few minutes late.  Sat in the office for fifteen minutes (which is unusual) when the nurse appeared.  “I do not have orders for you!  You can wait here or you can come wait back with us but I am not doing anything without orders!”  She promptly disappeared back into the chemo room.  I looked at Nancy and said, “What am I doing here today?”  “I do not do well with her and I am not in the right frame of mind to deal with her all day.”  She is the one nurse in the whole practice who I do not do well with.  We have a history. [Read more…]

Monday was the first round of Maintenance Chemo.  I will continue this treatment plan for a season.  During this stage of treatment Dr. Saroha and I will be monitoring how I feel, signs of active cancer and any indication of “relapse”.  When there are any signs of active cancer we will return to some form of more aggressive treatment.  My prayer is that we can avoid that reality for a rather lengthy period of time.

LANGUAGE MATTERS

Last Friday I met with Dr. Saroha and we talked over options and ended up choosing to enter the maintenance chemo season of treatment.  As we were talking about my cancer he used the word “remission”.  “Remission” is a word I was told never to expect to hear.  When he spoke it I was taken by surprise and did not say anything.  We were in the midst of making big decisions on the future of my treatment.  The word was spoken, hung in the air and then was quickly passed over as we made life altering decisions.

A few days later I could not escape his use of the word.  What did he mean when he spoke it?  I know what I have always taken it to mean when someone with cancer shared that they were in remission.  How could this be when I was clearly told to never expect to hear such words in my case?  I needed answers.  Email is awesome.  With a quick note to Dr. Saroha I had my answer in less than 24 hours.  I thought I would share it here.  I think it is helpful to understand how some of those who care for us use language and it speaks clearly to my condition.  Here is his response:

Unfortunately, “remission” is not a well defined medical term and we do use it variably during discussion about cancer. There are two common scenarios that you may hear it used-

1) Cancer was treated, there is no evidence of cancer currently, patient may be cured but we won’t know for sure for a few years, so we may call it “remission” until we can call it cured or the cancer returns. This would be the situation with an early stage colon cancer that was resected and then patient may have had chemo for a few months afterwards.

2) Cancer was treated, there is no evidence of active/progressing cancer (but there likely is some cancer in the body), plan is observation (no chemotherapy) or maintenance/low-dose chemotherapy until we see progressing/worsening cancer, so we may call it “remission” until cancer gets worse (called “relapse”).

I used it in 2nd context. Although, I certainly would like you stay optimistic (rarely these “remissions” can last years and as you know, miracles can happen!).

While I certainly would have liked to have been in the 1st context I am glad we can say “there is no evidence of active/progressing cancer”.  Our plan of low dose chemotherapy should keep any cancer from growing for a season.  My prayer is that I stay in this stage of “remission” until someone comes up with some new treatment which will move me closer to a cure.  I love Dr. Saroha’s closing words, “miracles can happen”!  Amen, Amen and Amen! [Read more…]

“Hey Dan, I have an opportunity for you.”

This was how many of our conversations began.  Over time I learned to laugh and beat him to the punch.  “So, what opportunity do you have for me today?”  Walt was one of those happy, easy going guys who had the gift to see the positive in every situation.  Even the worst of times was an “opportunity” for someone to learn something new, to grow, to rise above expectations and do great things.  The truth.  Walt knew every “opportunity” was a moment for us to remain faithful, do our best, and then watch as God showed up to redeem and transform a difficult situation.

I was a young man when I worked with Walt and Carol.  I learned a lot.  Above all I learned that even the most difficult of situations is “an opportunity” to see God at work.

I thought of Mr. Opportunity this morning when I read my devotional.  I want to share it with you here.  It comes from Sarah Young’s “Jesus Calling.

Every time something thwarts your plans or desires, use that as a reminder to communicate with Me.  This practice has several benefits.  The first is obvious: Talking with Me blesses you and strengthens our relationship.  Another benefit is that disappointments, instead of dragging you down, are transformed into opportunities for good.  This transformation removes the sting from difficult circumstances, making it possible to be joyful in the midst of adversity.

Begin by practicing this discipline in all the little disappointments of daily life.  It is often these minor setbacks that draw you away from My Presence.  When you reframe setbacks as opportunities, you find that you gain much more than you have lost.  It is only after much training that you can accept major losses in this positive way.  But it is possible to attain the perspective of the apostle Paul, who wrote: Compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus, I consider everything  I once treasured to be as insignificant as rubbish.

[Read more…]