Reflections from a Cancer Mom

Oh boy...here she goes again! Yes, I'm in one of my reflective, sappy, thoughtful moods.

Brady had a good appointment with the oncologist today. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE this doctor. He is straightforward, honest, encouraging, and most of all...he does what he says he will! It's like, you know, what you always thought doctors should be like? We basically were just there to check in with him and to give him a chance to look at Brady. He thinks he looks great, isn't concerned too much about his size/weight, and is happy with the scan results. The blood tests came back fine, but the urine result wasn't it yet. He isn't sure if that means somehow the sample didn't get processed, or if it is pending. I'm going to check with him later in the week.

So I asked him some of my big, profound cancer mom questions. One of which being, "So when can I relax about all of this...when are we out of the woods?" A dumb question, I know, but sometimes you say these things out loud, hoping for a response that is just what you want to hear. He told me that the farther away from diagnosis we get, the better, but that kids relapse sometimes years after diagnosis. Ughh. He told me that the one year benchmark is important (January), the one year from surgery benchmark is important (April), the three year benchmark, and of course the 5 year mark are all critical. Soooo...5 years then huh? He reminded me that Brady's risk category (intermediate, non amplified) puts him in a great position to do well. Perhaps the most profound thing he said to me was, "Live every day like he is cured." Awesome words for this mom, that's for sure!

So, onward we go. I was encouraged to find out that Brady will have one more 3-month interval scan (January) and after that we move to 6 month intervals. It will be wonderful to have twice as much time to let our guard down a little:)

I find myself in awe lately of how much has happened in 10 months. Of course Brady tops that list, but I also look at how the events of his illness have affected each of our lives. My children have amazingly strong connections to their grandparents because of all the time they have gotten to spend with them. I feel much more confident as a mom now then I did before all of this happened. Certainly our faith has been tested, shaken, and wonderfully strengthened through it all.

One of the biggest blessings for me has been new friendships in my life. While I think the enormity of the situation and the constant up and down in our lives has driven some away, I'm amazed at the number of people God has brought into my life that continue to bless me every day. We have had to accept the kindness of strangers, who in time have become friends.

I guess this is just another example of a silver lining in what seemed the darkest of storm clouds.