An Addendum to "Waiting" by The Patient, Heidi
(This is part 5 of a series. You can read the previous part here. New to the series? Start here.)
Hi, Y’all! This is my first foray into blogging and I am not a seasoned pro like Bill.
So we waited and while Bill was posting, the sun set and we waited a bit longer to hear from Dr. EB.
I was in the tenth-floor waiting room. Bill helped pass the time by standing in a visible spot under the Christmas trees on the plaza and waving up at me until I could see him. You can envision the scene for the others passers-by on the ground and the other cancer patients in the waiting area, as we were both standing and staring at some spot and doing a full-length arm wave like we were trying to land a plane. All silently and socially distant, so as not to disturb others!
And Dr. EB understands the stress of waiting and responded. He called me in at 5pm, a full half hour early! We got Bill on the phone and then braced for the news.
Dr. EB didn’t bury the lede—the scans looked good! Indeed they had to look thoroughly to compare, but the tumors had shrunk and my lymph nodes are now normal-sized. Pause for a tissue—we were both a bit misty with relief. We both had a silent and not-so-silent, “Thank You God!”
A few more details of side effect management and review of the radiology notes, and then another reassurance of, "The tumors are normal-sized. The Xalkori is working.”
The waiting is over. The news is good. The prognosis is greatly lengthened. So many prayers and effective warriors have been heard. We can look forward again, and maybe for longer than two months at a time.
We know that there will be more waiting. But just for now, it is a time for gratitude and celebration! And maybe a really good bottle of wine!
Maybe our next entry can be about a travel adventure and not a medical one. :-)
/Heidi
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