A bouquet of flowers at the Doctors Office?...SWEET!

How many times have you ever gone to a Doctor, of any kind, and come home with a bouquet of flowers?  Well I never have until yesterday at my Oncologists office.  I saw another lady walk past our room we were waiting in, with a bouquet also.  How awesome was that?

Well, my appointment with her was ***** 5 stars!  Life just keeps getting sweeter and sweeter with my cancer. (I now have none of the side effects of the chemo in my system left, and I feel fantastic.)  She really encouraged me in how good my blood tests were, how healthy I looked, and even how when she pushed this time on my tumors, she said that I am able to withstand more pressure than normal without me wincing.  Guess what I said to her as I looked into her eyes on the patient table?  I told her the reason I feel and look so good is because I don't have cancer! She looked at me and grinned from ear to ear, and emphatically said, "O-K"!  Then I got the flowers just before I left.

I have been praying umpteen prayers about my itching.  I have also had multiple priesthood blessings in the middle of the night from such bad itching about 2:00 in the morning, and no sleep yet.  I believe my doctor was inspired from God to tell me something so simple:
  "I want you to double up your itch medication, 3 times a day and see if that helps", is what she suggested!  How simple of a fix would that be if it helps? Why has that not been thought of weeks upon weeks ago? ( Because I needed some refining of some sort to go through it I think.)

  I am one day into it, and I so far have had the best day and evening with hardly any itching!!!!  A huge difference!!!  I need to see if after one day it was just a fluke, or is it going to be divine information sent to my doctor!!!! I believe it is. 

Kim and I left her office in such high spirits!!  I was flying again, just like last time.  She said I had to be on the harmone blocker for 3 months before we get another CT scan.  So that would put it at the first of the year. I am thinking good things will happen in that scan...."I gotta have FAITH"!

Thanks again for prayers from so many of you....thank you...thank you!

My dark, "supposedly-not-cool" hair, and tender moment with Capri.

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A few days ago I got my hair colored a darker color than my normal color. The next morning my granddaughter came over and saw my hair. She is 6 years old.  Here is the exchange we had:

Ava:  Grammy, why is your hair so dark?

Me:  I went to the salon yesterday and I had it colored.

Ava:  Let me go get you a hat.

That sure made me laugh inside.  It must not be a color she liked.  She made me wear the hat all day also.
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I had a sweet moment of feeling close to my Father In Heaven yesterday. I seem to have a lot of these lately.  I will share this one:

I was tending grandchildren again yesterday. My granddaughter Capri, was born on my birthday and just turned one year old. She is my youngest grandchild. 

I was holding her and she looked up in my eyes and smiled that mischievious little "Capri" smile at me and laid on my shoulder with her little grin. I had such a feeling of love from my Father in Heaven that he was giving me time to get to know that little soul.  That He was giving me time for her to love me and for me to love her.  There was a time that I didn't know if I would get to know her very well.  But we had a moment together yesterday, and it filled me with thanks to my God for allowing me that sweet love filled moment.  Tender mercies!

A potential help from a Hormone Blocker. Seriously?

My Doctor appointment today made my head swim!  I couldn't believe what she was telling me.

On the ride to her office, I told Kim that if I had one wish, (but I knew it would not come true) it would be to be able to take chemo pills again and not have to have IV chemo, which she pretty much said was my alternative when Nexivar didn't work.

Since I saw her last, she took a sample of my last years biopsy and it was sent to Phoenix.  With my personal cell DNA and my personal proteins and with the biopsy from the tumor, they profiled me.  The information they sent back had 2 lists. A short list of treatments that would most likely NOT work for my cancer and body makeup.  Then there was a longer list of ways of treating MY cancer!  I do have hepatoma cancer of the liver.  I have known that over a year ago. That kind of cancer will work differently in different people.

Well, already, I liked the fact that my list of things that could possibly work for me, was longer that the ones that wouldn't work.  She seemed pleased about that too.

Drumroll********  My body make-up seems to be compatible with hormone blockers to fight cancer!  There are several different kinds I could try. All of them being an oral pill. No chemo at all. Just the hormone blocker. I couldn't comprehend that I was hearing this right!  I just had never heard of this.  She said breast cancer patients usually take this for five years after they have had breast cancer and been on chemo/radiation. I was dumbfounded.  I had never heard of this.  Taking a non-chemo prescription just from the pharmacy, a $10.00  90 day bottle was all I had to get.  Take one a day.  I kept saying to her, "Seriously?  That's it?"

Like I mentioned before, if I had a wish, I hoped I could take my chemo in pill form again.  Not only was I getting my wish, but it wasn't even chemo that I would be taking!  This particular hormone blocker can make me feel really achy over time.  The other hormone blockers on the list had harsher side effects.  But this one we decided was a place to start anyway. I couldn't get the smile off my face.  I couldn't believe how I had just been blessed.  Hugely blessed! I HAD OPTIONS! AWESOME OPTIONS!  If any of you reading this, do not believe in miracles, this was a small miracle that was for me.  When Nexivar didn't work, I didn't have many options that would work well.  But this scientific testing, took me to a whole new level.  

We talked about how maybe this hormone blocker might not work.  Then, we try another one.  Keep doing this till we get to the list on my profile of chemo drugs that may work.  

The best part of this all she said:  "You feel good. You are not a sick cancer patient.  Any chemo IV drug will potentially make you sick with toxins from side effects.  Why do that when you feel just fine?" I loved her reasoning. So this hormone blocker could make me achy after time.  That is it.  

I thanked and thanked her. I felt so happy that I hardly could contain myself.  When we got home from the pharmacy, I asked Kim to dance in the kitchen with me.  We danced around like two little kids. (and he thinks he can't dance!!! ) 

Kim and I believe in all of your prayers.  I am a recipient of being blessed because of them.  I can't tell you thank you enough.  My life just took another small turn for the better. Life is good!