Another Good Report
The results from last Thursday’s CT scan are in and are good, even better than the previous scan. The scan shows no evidence of cancer in my esophagus, liver, or lymph nodes. The one lymph node that showed as still slightly enlarged in the previous scan is now well within the range of normal. This doesn’t mean that the cancer has been eradicated (remember that the CEA tumor marker numbers have been creeping up lately), but it does mean that the treatments (and your prayers) have been exceptionally effective. Dr. Devore said yesterday that “we really don’t see these kinds of results very often.” Thank you so much for your prayers.
The doc is still of a mind to increase the daily dosage of Xeloda again, but not until I complete the current round just begun because the cold I’m just getting over has left me particularly weak. The last increase in dosage didn’t bring on the previous dangerous intestinal side effects, but the cumulative impact of the Xeloda has definitely included a general tiredness and exhaustion. The common cold I caught last week knocked me out like a full-blown flu! As from the beginning of this divine assignment, I have hardly noticed the illness at all, but the treatment for it has been an ordeal!
Not that I’m complaining. I realize how blessed I have been just by looking around the waiting room at the oncologist’s and the chemotherapy room. Others are not experiencing anything like my positive results so far, or perhaps are far advanced in their illnesses. Sometimes there are patients obviously much younger than me. In this fallen and sin-sick world evil falls indiscriminately on those who live in it. Lots of people don’t get sixty-five years, and lots of people don’t get saved from sin and death over the course of their lives of whatever length. God has been good to me.
I thank you for your prayers, and hope that you’ll continue. In the short term, pray that I’ll get well (from the cold), stay well, and regain some strength for another nudge up in my Xeloda dosage in three weeks. In the longer term, pray that the Lord would heal me completely, and that no matter what that I would pass the test given.