....and thank God for: answered prayers; friends and family that believe in the power of prayer and have taken the time to remember us; creating us in such a marvelous way that our bodies can endure and recover; providing gifts to those in the medical field that have made huge advances in treating cancer; and the list goes on.... The children's VBS song that was titled "I know my God is real...." keeps running thru my head.
In case you couldn't tell, we received good news from the doctor today: 15 months after my stem cell transplant there are no signs of the disease!!! My statistics for being cured of this disease take leaps and bounds with each passing set of scans. Next set of scans will be in December and then again around my two year anniversary next April.
Brant and I have let out a collective sigh and have begun to feel ok with thinking about the future in terms of many years. But it is funny since no one is really guaranteed "tomorrow" yet we all tend to feel like we have a right to expect it and many more tomorrows after that. Hopefully from this experience we will always keep the perspective that each day is special, a gift to be enjoyed, and not overlooked in a race to get to somewhere that may not ever materialize.
My one other milestone to report is that I played in a doubles beach volleyball tournament last weekend. It was pretty exciting considering I haven't done that in well over ten years....in fact, I really can't remember the last time I played on the beach. And this time last year I would get winded going upstairs!! I was blessed to play on a rare August day that was only in the 80's instead of the 90's, and to have a partner that is not only good at volleyball but is also in very good condition (she's a fitness instructor). Needless to say, Janet chased down most of the stray balls while I stood stuck in the sand gasping for air!!! We didn't win prize money, but we were definitely competitive and look forward to doing it again.
Thanks for checking in....hopefully the good news will keep on coming!
This blog was started in Jan '07 as a way to update family and friends on my fight against relapsed Hodgkins Lymphoma. I underwent chemo and a stem cell transplant at Sloan Kettering in 2007 and then spent six years in remission. The blog went dormant as life became less about cancer and more about living. Now I am facing Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) that has developed from previous chemo. So I have dusted off the old Blog (still very un-tech-savvy). Time to get up and fight again!
2 comments:
Dear Friend,
I couldn't be happier! God is SOOOOOOO good!
Let's celebrate at the beach big time next week.
Lots of love,
Stephanie
Rachel,
What great news! We rejoice with you and give thanks to our Father in heaven.
Greetings to the fam.
Dwight and Barb
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