Blessed with good news

January 31:  It was a day to remember!  Nanette was first diagnosed with a brain tumor with an MRI and then after she finished with the six weeks of radiation, they did another MRI and said they would use it as a baseline to monitor the status of the tumor.  Today she had another MRI which they used for comparison with the previous one after radiation.  Tyler, Sergio, Frank (her dad) and I were all in the room when the physician's assistant came in before the oncologist.  He said to all of us "It has been a very long time since we've seen such a positive change in someone's scans."  We were all speechless.  Dr. Colman, the oncologist, came in with the nurse Kilee and showed us the scans and explained what had happened.  He went though it in detail for us, showing us all the pictures from different angles.  When he got to one scan in particular, we could all see that the tumor had noticably shrunk, the swelling was gone and different parts of the brain were aligned correctly again.  Dr. Colman said it was the best results we could have hoped for with this kind of brain tumor. 

 

Dr. Colman believes it is the chemo that is keeping the tumor from growing.  The Avastin infusions reduced the swelling.  The doctor's goal now is to continue the Avastin infusions for several more months, keep her on the chemo pills for six months to a year, wean her off the steroids and do MRI's every two months.  Doing the MRI's every two months will be the method of monitoring the tumor's activity.  The tumor is not gone but is considerably smaller and the goal now is to keep it "at bay" with the chemo regimen. 

 

We all walked out of Huntsman Cancer Center today with feelings and emotions far different than the first day we walked in there.  Not everyone is blessed to walk out those doors with such feelings of gratitude and relief.  We all believe this positive progress in her health is due to the prayers, fasting, Priesthood blessings, and sincere wishes and love of so many of you who read this blog and are her friends and family.

 

This battle is not over for Nanette.  She is not uninformed or naive as to the long miles ahead of her.  But, we are grateful today for this "good news" and thankful for each day these results have given us. 

 

Elder David A. Bednar said "God expects and trusts us to face temporary mortal adversity with His help so we can learn what we need to learn and ultimately become what we are to become in eternity.  Trusting in the Lord's will and timing is essential."

 

Nanette has been trusting through this whole experience so far and will, undoubtedly, continue down the miles ahead with faith and hope.  We will continue to post her progress through this blog.  And she is grateful to all of you who have traveled this road with her so far and for your prayers, thoughts, and kind actions.. She loves and appreciate each one of you.