Prior to Lori’s latest check-up (last week), the Dr. ordered another round of body scans to compare last quarter’s results. Three months ago, we had just begun to think that the chemo was working…finally…but we didn’t have a lot to go on other than physical feel of the tumor size. Back then, the scans confirmed bone and liver lesions, and the tumor was measured for future reference. Over the next couple of months, Lori and I felt like the tumor continued to shrink. However, this past month, we thought it was beginning to grow again. So when Lori went in for scans a little over a week ago, we weren’t sure what to expect. We thought the tumor would be smaller than three months ago despite the little bit of growth we’ve noticed lately.As expected, the results of her latest scans showed that the tumor was in fact smaller. That’s good news, but we already knew that. In a way, the frequency of the scans is a bit frustrating because we think the tumor had time to shrink and then begin to grow again just before these newest scans. So let’s say the tumor shrank 50% over the first two months but then grew 20% over the last month. The scans might only see the net 30% decrease in size, and all the docs may be excited about the progress. That may be what happened, but we aren’t quibbling about relative statistics! It’s good to know that the tumor is smaller than it was three months ago!

The better news is that the lesions in the bones and in the liver have also decreased in size! I wasn’t sure what to expect for those areas, and it was great to hear that positive report. Depending on how things go this month (she received the same Doxil chemo infusion again), we may try to increase the frequency of the body scans. That should give us a better idea of how the Doxil is doing.

We are thankful that God has given us all of this time, and we’re living our lives happily every day. In fact, some days seem almost too normal considering the circumstances. The kids are happy, but they still don’t know exactly what is going on. They know mom is still sick, but the oldest doesn’t need to know more yet, and the younger ones wouldn’t grasp it anyhow.

I’m expecting orders for a move to Wright Patterson AFB, Dayton, OH soon. We may move as early as January, but it may be later; we’re not sure right now. In the meantime, Lori has been working tirelessly to help declutter the house and sell old clothes as we prepare to sell the house. I’ve already turned away two buyers because we weren’t ready to move out when they wanted to buy. Her mom was here last week, and they made a huge amount of progress on getting the house ready to show again!

Continue to pray for full healing! This progress is nice, but we’re ready for her to just be healed. We believe in God’s timing though, and we also believe that our lives are not our own. We’ll praise God no matter what happens, and we won’t pretend that we know know better how things should play out despite a heavy desire to do so.