Today is Epiphany in the Christian church, the commemoration of the coming of the Magi (does this translate in your dictionary as astrologer?) as the first manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles. I kept the last remnants of the Christmas decorations up until today to show solidarity to the twelfth day of Christmas, though the shedding tree and most of the holiday tinsel came down a week ago. The word epiphany also connotes discovery or realization often triggered by something simple yet striking.
No epiphany (in the second sense) in the Buenger household today. When Dr. Heidi Russell called today with scan results, I didn't slap myself in the forehead and say, oh now I get it. The results were much like we expected. The areas inside the two radiation fields showed good improvement (although I would have preferred to hear "completely melted away"). The questionable lymph nodes outside the radiation fields were still there, probably about the same, maybe a millimeter or two bigger, but certainly not growing rampantly. The radiologists believe that a couple of very small spots they have watched over the fall are now bright enough to be called boney lesions (hip and head), but I'm skeptical, since we had a negative CT of Erin's head in December with no sign that anything was going on there. So there you have it, as I predicted, somewhat mixed results, though taken together weighing towards good news, rather than stable or bad news. And that's exactly how Erin looks and acts.
Given Erin's current overall health and painfree status (any health problems she has had lately appear treatment related rather than tumor related), it seems like a ripe moment to try something other than the topless cyclone. What? Haven't a clue. Dr. Russell promised to e-mail me some options later today or first thing tomorrow.
So, no "ah ha" moment. No "head slapping, I could have had a V-8" moment. No epiphany on Epiphany. Just another reprieve from irrevocably bad news about Erin's cancer. I've been saying it all along. . .Hope in '09.
Erin got a camera for Christmas, so I will leave you with this self portrait:
Also, her entry into Funniest Animal Videos:
I'm so glad to hear "weighing toward good news"!
ReplyDeleteCarla
Oh my gosh, Erin's little giggle on that video is so cute!! Glad that there's no bad news. Hope in '09 sounds like a great motto for everyone...
ReplyDeleteHurray! So glad to hear it things seem to be moving in the right direction. Love the giggle.
ReplyDeleteHope in '09 it is.
Margot
Yay! I'll chalk it up as good news.
ReplyDeleteI can totally deal with not seeing more of you guys at TCH if you are up frolicking in College Station doing Buenger-like things!
Hope Dr. HVR has a few tricks up her sleeve:)
Lara
Now now, we all know that Erin is brilliant so the comment "..CT of Erin's head in December with no sign that anything was going on there." can't be true. She's plotting to take over the world. We know she is :)
ReplyDeleteAll in all not a bad report. We'll be praying her doc comes up with a great plan so the next scan is everything we want. We definitely have hope in '09! We'll be looking for lots more of her pictures! with hope, missy
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear your report was as expected and am joining you in your mantra of "Hope in 09".
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed Erin's precious giggle in the video. Did she actually submit it to America's Funniest Animals?
Kimberly Reeves
Hi Erin! I loved this video!!
ReplyDelete