Wednesday, December 1st we had an appointment to see if the first round of chemo appeared to be working and the doctor would allow us to continue treatment or not since the infusions appeared not to have impacted the tumor. Chris and Lisa arrived at 8:45 for blood work and scans. We questioned the scan since the week before they mentioned no contrast and the radiologist said they were doing scans. We had to wait longer for the scan to get the current blood work. We also called Chris’s oncologist to make sure he was ok with it since the contrast can put stress on the kidneys and the levels were questionable the week before which is why they had said not contrast previously.
After what felt like a long time, a lot of discussions, and getting the latest kidney blood work levels it was determined we could get a scan with contrast. A scan with contrast shows more detail than without it. After our scan we headed up to our appointment with the oncologist. Of course our appointment was over an hour away so we had to wait to check in for the appointment. We were called back 30 minutes later and sat in the room, anxiously waiting news. We know there were people praying because we felt it. The peace that only could come from God over fell us. We drank water, talked, and waited.
Our doctor, Dr Basu finally came in and sat down. He is pretty direct and upfront. He immediately said I know you are waiting on news on the scan so I want to start with that … the tumor looks to be responding to the chemo and the volume of the tumor shrank. Chris looked a little confused so Lisa repeated to him the tumor shrunk and we celebrated. As we were celebrating, our doctor reminded us that this is good news and that this can add time to Chris’s life but the diagnosis still is stage 4 and terminal. We need someone to keep us level and be direct with us. However, we will still say BUT GOD!
One might ask what we mean when we say BUT GOD … it is simply really. God is in control and nothing can happen without God allowing it. God gets the final say! God is our Savior! God is the beginning and end! God is Alpha and Omega! God is the Great I AM! God has the perfect plan for each of us! God is the Great Physician! God is a Miracle Maker! God is the Way-maker! God can heal! God can give us a miracle! God is able to do anything! We trust in His plan! We know God will give us a healing … God gets to give it to us here on Earth together or Chris his healing in Heaven since Chris has put his trust in Jesus as his Lord and Savior! We trust in God and put our faith in Him! He is providing what we need each day, each moment! We trust in God!