One of my favorite movies to quote in my adult life is “Oh, Brother, Where art thou?” It is a parody movie of Homer’s Odyssey set in the 1930s that is chock full of slapstick humor. Just my speed. At one point in the movie, the main character Everett, is trying to buy his favorite pomade called Dapper Dan. The general store in the town he is in is out of it. So the natural question is which city can they order it from and when will the new shipment arrive… every city that carries it is two weeks to arrival.
“Well isn’t this just a geographical oddity?!? Two weeks from EVERYWHERE!”
Most of this summer has felt like we were two weeks from everything. At the end of June into July, Elizabeth was sick for almost two weeks from an infected port. Then it took a week to get CT scan results. Then it took almost two weeks to meet with a surgeon just for him to say he wasn’t going to do anything (drill through breast bone for chest wall biopsy) and recommend a PET scan instead. Then just shy of two weeks until the PET scan could be done. A week and half later she got her infected port removed. Two weeks later she had a biopsy done on the neck lymph node that had cancer. Then finally a week after that we got the biopsy results… that was this week.
In that two month stretch we had some of the highlights of the year, with our week at Simpson Park Camp, E and the boys spent a week in Ohio with Elizabeth’s family, and I had my annual gathering of the guys. The rest of the time felt like a slow crawl of uncovering what was under the next rock of “what the heck is going on with Elizabeth’s health.” And guess what?! We have another couple of weeks until we’ll actually (hopefully) have an answer… Geographical oddity it is.
So here is what we know, and don’t. The PET scan confirmed active cancer in the two lymph nodes in the neck, but also that the mass in the chest was benign. Yay. That was a nice surprise until the big reveal was that there is active cancer in several vertebrae. That bit of information is quite concerning considering her bloodwork indicates that the two original types of cancer (breast & liver) were improving. Meaning, these new spots are likely something brand new. To quote Everett once again “dang, we’re in a tight spot.”
The two choices from that were to biopsy the neck, which she had active spots there a year and half ago as well, or to biopsy the spine… neck seemed less invasive. Neck biopsy came back showing it was the same type of cancer as what was in her liver. Her neck area has been stable(ish) the last year. Soooo what the heck is in the spine?! There are two options to find out if it is new or same as the old, throw a brutal chemo at it that treats the old cancer for three months and hope the spine sees results too, or bone biopsy. She has opted for the biopsy.
That is where we are, waiting for the bone biopsy to be scheduled. No treatment will take place until after the results from that are in, though she is still doing a litany of home therapies, supplementation, dietary intentionality, and incredibly good humor from her dashing husband, but I digress.
Pray for her healing.
Pray for peace for the biopsy.
Pray for a clear plan for treatment if needed (miraculous healing = no treatment needed).
Pray for us to parent well during high emotion/stress times.
Pray we don’t grow cold, or bitter, or numb.
We love you all dearly,
- D & E
