cautious

                                

Since this illness began I have been very cautious...about EVERYTHING!  I know now that bad things can happen even when you are expecting good.  So to avoid disappointment I tend to think the worst or nothing at all and if it turns out to be good news then I can be pleasantly surprised.

This week I received good news.  I went back to the diagnostic center to have a PET scan which would tell if there was any cancer on my kidney where 'something' was spotted on the CT scan I had before the blood clot crisis.  Later the same day I went to my doctor's office to get the results. I waited and waited while getting more nervous as time passed. There were still many in front of me and my impatience was growing.  Then the good things started happening. My doctor called me back ahead of other patients to a little room where the nurses take your blood pressure and weigh you.  He said he didn't want me to have to wait to hear the news he had for me. I began to cry thinking it was another crisis.  He quickly reassured me that he had good news. The 'something' on the kidney was just a hematoma from the original surgery last August.  In fact, there was NO CANCER anywhere. The chemo treatments I have had so far are working.  Also, the PET scan showed the blood clot in my lungs had already dissipated quite a bit.  Relief spread over me and the anxiety of the day disappeared. What a good feeling!  I really appreciate the doctor doing that. He says he can feel all the anguish of the waiting patients so he wanted to relieve my anguish since I had been having a rough time with the clot and the infection.  Very kind of him. 

Of course things are not perfect. I still have to finish chemo (six more treatments), I can't start chemo again until the GI infection is gone and today I am having a blood transfusion.  But there is an upward trend...yes I am still cautious and probably will be for quite awhile but trying to enjoy the good news for a change and let go of some of my constant worrying.  

And so the journey continues...