I am so thankful to be here to write this to you. I want to thank each and everyone of you for the outpouring of support and prayer that you have given over these months. If you ever see me in person you know that I will cry on the spot of telling you how thankful I am for you. The nurses and my Dr. continually say comments about the amount of ongoing support I have had at each of my appointments.  So Kudos to you all!  It has also kept my dark times at bay and increased my faith greatly.

That said here is where we are today.  I have had another scan this last Tuesday and found out the results yesterday. Walking in to the doctor yesterday was meant with some anxiety but also with confidence knowing that I thought it would be great. Upon arrival I always weigh-in, get my vitals done, and my port accessed in the chemo area and then go back out to the other side to speak with my Dr.  This morning there was a little confusion because apparently I read the wrong schedule and got there a few minutes late which messed things up a bit.  In the waiting and the information I was given made me a bit emotional and had me thinking that my scan had not gone as I had hoped. I excused myself to the bathroom and had a good cry and returned to my private chemo room to start my fluids.  The private chemo rooms mean 8 hours of chemo not just 1 hour and so my expectations had not been my reality or so I thought. 

However, when Dr. Matt arrived (he came to the chemo lab to meet which he doesn't do often) with this huge smile and 2 thumbs up I immediately knew something was different.  He walks in and declares it is all great! You are dropping to 1 hour chemo no more 8 hours.  I was more excited than a kid at Christmas morning.  My friends in the room breathed a sigh of relief as well.  The scan had shown more shrinkage and more healthy liver tissue growing to replace the cancerous spots.   

So my treatments will be Thursday 1 hour, Thursday 1 hour, Thursday off until the next scan in 9 weeks.  I can't tell you how I sincerely will miss my time with the chemo nurses as I fell we have become family over time, but also the elation I feel not having to sit there for 8 hours anymore.  What a huge relief and monumental moment.  

My appointments with Dr. Matt are never dull. We laugh and chat about life way more than we do cancer. Don't get me wrong, that guy knows his stuff and delivers it in a serious and direct way and yet then we move on to other things like hair loss, baseball, vacations, yoga, family, things people say to me, support groups, my clothing and shoes😂 etc.  We laugh, I cry. I am amazed by the care I am receiving through Edward.  If you want to meet some of the finer people in Naperville I am convinced the Cancer Center is where they are.  I have never seen them lose their cool and I KNOW they have way more stressful days than I do.  

So with that I am so thankful to still be here with a lot of wiggle room when there wasn't much in December.  Dr. Matt told me with stability of the cancer I can live a full life.  So here is to our next set of prayers. STABILITY  We would love shrinkage but are praying for stability. Thank you everyone, I am so blessed to know you all and have you in my corner.  

Love,
Heather 

PS: If you would ever be available to go chemo, I would love it and I think you would be amazed at the care that is given. I can't promise you will get to meet Dr. Matt or his nurse Emily but you will meet a lot of other wonderful people. 😀