HI HO HI HO its back to India I go......
I am NOT relishing the thought of returning to India but the latest tests results are hard to argue with, on top of the fact, that I feel better than I have in over three years. My mind has come back (mostly), I can track conversations better and actually accomplish a thing or two! We will take more of all of the above!
The short version of the test results are: "The results are confusing" says Matt (oncologist). One test says one thing and the other says EXACTLY the opposite. How does that happen? They can't explain it. The oncology radiologist went to get Matt when she read the scans because they just didn't make sense to her. This all made me smile! Western medicine hasn't been confused about anything since this all started so I see it as a good sign. I have a theory about what is happening but it is simply a theory at this point. I ran it by Matt and he said it's possible. One scan is a nuclear medicine scan, highly sophisticated and measures only carcinoid cancer. It says the tumors are shrinking slightly and there is less nuclear activity in the tumors. The other scan is an MRI. It doesn't distinguish between benign or cancerous, it just sees size and location. The MRI says three tumors have grown slightly and there is one new one! If I were a betting woman and I AM, I am going to go with the nuclear medicine results. I can explain that if your interested but won't bore you with the details here. The results can only point us back to India.
I leave Sept 24th and return Nov 6th. My oldest niece, Beth, will be accompanying me this year. I had fully planned on going alone this time. When Beth offered to come I tried to talk her out of it, as she is a student at the UW and will have to take a quarter off. She, in her very loving, sweet way informed me that a quarter off from school isn't going to change her job opportunities, her income or her future but when would she EVER get to spend a month with me! She had saved some of her financial aid last year so she could pay for her airfare.... You can clear your throat here, as I did, because what do you say to that? Shut me right up and as most of you know that is not an easy task. Beth is coming with. It suddenly got a lot easier to start making plans to go. Jeff and I are both relieved to have her with me. She has traveled the world, by herself and India won't be as hard on her as it would most people. She will be a wonderful companion. Bless her adorable soul!!
I am not looking forward to going back to India for a whole host of reasons, not the least of which is, I am away from Jeff and Cole for a LONG time. I will miss my sons birthday this year!! UUHH... It is not a comfortable journey and the conditions for this spoiled American are tough. May I just say "I am tired of being a terminal cancer patient. I want to be cured and to have my life back!" That is why I am going back to India.
As for the rest of the family! Cole started 2nd grade today. Val asked him yesterday if he was looking forward to going back to school and he said "no, not with a bone in my body". Well, that's clear! He was up this morning and ready to go without difficulty however. He also seems to be growing like a weed. The top of his head reaches my neck and he will be 8 in Oct. YIKES.
Jeff started a job in January. He went back to work for a company he had worked for out of HS and into college. I guess there is truth to the saying "you can't go back". It wasn't a good fit. He quit in May and is in the process of starting his own company. I am really proud of him for quitting because I know he wasn't happy. I also know it had to be hard for him given our circumstances. However if this cancer experience has taught us ANYTHING it is Life is to short to spend it doing something you don't like!
Aunt G, Angie graduated from Bastyr Univ. in May, HOOT HOOT and congrats. She moved into her own place this last weekend. :( While I am sure it is good for her I will miss her. She has been such a blessing for us these last four years and is a beautiful being. We love you G! Oh, and thank you.
For those of you not on FaceBook I have to tell you I got my one eyed dog home from India. It was a long arduous task (UNDERSTATEMENT) but on New Years eve Baby arrived with one puppy in tow. We easily adopted her puppy, named Indy, to family friends and both dogs are doing VERY well. I was able to find an organization in India, through a good friend here (bless you Joyce), that quickly went and rescued Baby and her pup. The people in the org are amazingly dedicated and REALLY know the meaning of rowing upstream. The group is called HSPCA.in. Check them out. One of the nice surprises to this adventure is I have made new, lifelong friends. Beth is going to volunteer with them while we are in Hyderabad so she has something to do. I am looking VERY forward to meeting these dedicated people. They are picking us up at the airport and taking us to the clinic!!!
For those of you that always ask "What can I do to help?" There is a video campaign on Indiegogo at http://www.indiegogo.com and search for For the love of Mary that will answer the question for you. It will be posted to my FaceBook page and I will send out an email with the link. If some of you could check and make sure that Jeff and Cole are eating while I am gone I would be grateful. Jeff will need a break now and then to! Ha, Cole may need one to for that matter.
One more thing, if you go looking for the website "fortheloveofmary.org" you won't find it. A slime ball organization scooped up the domain name the minute it became available and wanted to charge us to use it!!! There is a special place for them. We REFUSED to pay them so the website is now 4theloveofmary.org
As always, thank you for your continued love and support. The last 3 3/4 yrs (but whose counting) have been made MUCH more bearable with you traveling with us.
My love,
Mary
I am NOT relishing the thought of returning to India but the latest tests results are hard to argue with, on top of the fact, that I feel better than I have in over three years. My mind has come back (mostly), I can track conversations better and actually accomplish a thing or two! We will take more of all of the above!
The short version of the test results are: "The results are confusing" says Matt (oncologist). One test says one thing and the other says EXACTLY the opposite. How does that happen? They can't explain it. The oncology radiologist went to get Matt when she read the scans because they just didn't make sense to her. This all made me smile! Western medicine hasn't been confused about anything since this all started so I see it as a good sign. I have a theory about what is happening but it is simply a theory at this point. I ran it by Matt and he said it's possible. One scan is a nuclear medicine scan, highly sophisticated and measures only carcinoid cancer. It says the tumors are shrinking slightly and there is less nuclear activity in the tumors. The other scan is an MRI. It doesn't distinguish between benign or cancerous, it just sees size and location. The MRI says three tumors have grown slightly and there is one new one! If I were a betting woman and I AM, I am going to go with the nuclear medicine results. I can explain that if your interested but won't bore you with the details here. The results can only point us back to India.
I leave Sept 24th and return Nov 6th. My oldest niece, Beth, will be accompanying me this year. I had fully planned on going alone this time. When Beth offered to come I tried to talk her out of it, as she is a student at the UW and will have to take a quarter off. She, in her very loving, sweet way informed me that a quarter off from school isn't going to change her job opportunities, her income or her future but when would she EVER get to spend a month with me! She had saved some of her financial aid last year so she could pay for her airfare.... You can clear your throat here, as I did, because what do you say to that? Shut me right up and as most of you know that is not an easy task. Beth is coming with. It suddenly got a lot easier to start making plans to go. Jeff and I are both relieved to have her with me. She has traveled the world, by herself and India won't be as hard on her as it would most people. She will be a wonderful companion. Bless her adorable soul!!
I am not looking forward to going back to India for a whole host of reasons, not the least of which is, I am away from Jeff and Cole for a LONG time. I will miss my sons birthday this year!! UUHH... It is not a comfortable journey and the conditions for this spoiled American are tough. May I just say "I am tired of being a terminal cancer patient. I want to be cured and to have my life back!" That is why I am going back to India.
As for the rest of the family! Cole started 2nd grade today. Val asked him yesterday if he was looking forward to going back to school and he said "no, not with a bone in my body". Well, that's clear! He was up this morning and ready to go without difficulty however. He also seems to be growing like a weed. The top of his head reaches my neck and he will be 8 in Oct. YIKES.
Jeff started a job in January. He went back to work for a company he had worked for out of HS and into college. I guess there is truth to the saying "you can't go back". It wasn't a good fit. He quit in May and is in the process of starting his own company. I am really proud of him for quitting because I know he wasn't happy. I also know it had to be hard for him given our circumstances. However if this cancer experience has taught us ANYTHING it is Life is to short to spend it doing something you don't like!
Aunt G, Angie graduated from Bastyr Univ. in May, HOOT HOOT and congrats. She moved into her own place this last weekend. :( While I am sure it is good for her I will miss her. She has been such a blessing for us these last four years and is a beautiful being. We love you G! Oh, and thank you.
For those of you not on FaceBook I have to tell you I got my one eyed dog home from India. It was a long arduous task (UNDERSTATEMENT) but on New Years eve Baby arrived with one puppy in tow. We easily adopted her puppy, named Indy, to family friends and both dogs are doing VERY well. I was able to find an organization in India, through a good friend here (bless you Joyce), that quickly went and rescued Baby and her pup. The people in the org are amazingly dedicated and REALLY know the meaning of rowing upstream. The group is called HSPCA.in. Check them out. One of the nice surprises to this adventure is I have made new, lifelong friends. Beth is going to volunteer with them while we are in Hyderabad so she has something to do. I am looking VERY forward to meeting these dedicated people. They are picking us up at the airport and taking us to the clinic!!!
For those of you that always ask "What can I do to help?" There is a video campaign on Indiegogo at http://www.indiegogo.com and search for For the love of Mary that will answer the question for you. It will be posted to my FaceBook page and I will send out an email with the link. If some of you could check and make sure that Jeff and Cole are eating while I am gone I would be grateful. Jeff will need a break now and then to! Ha, Cole may need one to for that matter.
One more thing, if you go looking for the website "fortheloveofmary.org" you won't find it. A slime ball organization scooped up the domain name the minute it became available and wanted to charge us to use it!!! There is a special place for them. We REFUSED to pay them so the website is now 4theloveofmary.org
As always, thank you for your continued love and support. The last 3 3/4 yrs (but whose counting) have been made MUCH more bearable with you traveling with us.
My love,
Mary
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