I was hoping to have a quick and easy report from my March scans, but of course, this journey is never quick and easy. :-) 

I enjoyed an amazing beginning of 2023, celebrating the New Year on a cruise to Hawaii with my family.  Hawaii has never been on my bucket list (probably never felt the need to escape to a warmer climate living so many years in the Arizona heat), but I am now completely in love with the culture, food, people and God’s amazing creation in the Hawaiian islands. It was so incredible I kept telling people that I almost forgot about the difficulties of 2022.

I had a PET scan in March to monitor any cancer activity in my body and particularly to take a look at the area where Dr. B removed all the lymph nodes in November.  Everything looked great at that point.  The only observation the radiologist made was a slight enhancement near the surgery area.  He recommended watching that area in the June scans.  

At my June scan the PET area they were watching showed a tiny additional enhancement.  Initially, Dr. M said they recommended another surgery, which didn't exactly thrill me. The team ordered a CT scan to gather more information about where they might be looking for melanoma to remove.  The CT was super helpful.  It actually showed that everything left post-surgery is now smaller than it was in December. The CT radiologist also took a close look at the specific area where the PET was “lighting up”. He reported that there is “no appreciable abnormality corresponding to the site”-fancy way of saying, “I don’t see nothin’ there”. The best explanation according to Dr. M and Dr. B is that while the PET is great at identifying activity, it's not so stellar at anatomy. The best guess is that I have a loop of bowel in the enhancing area (where it is pretty normal to have activity when you have just swallowed a half gallon of contrast) 😂.

So, I’m planning to move forward with life with increasingly cautious optimism.  After I shared that with Dr. B, she said I was sounding like an oncologist.  I guess I've lived in the cancer world quite a while (just short of 6 years now).  I will continue with scans every 3 months for now and take it one step at a time.

I am hopeful that this cancer journey will be a lot less eventful from now on, though I'm at peace not knowing for sure what my health future holds.  Sometimes I wish cancer wasn't my companion, with all the uncertainty it brings. However, God's Word is forever reminding me that my God is bigger than the nasty beast of cancer and He gives me peace even in the uncertainty.

The Lord sat as King at the flood; Yes, the Lord sits as King forever. The Lord will give strength to His people; The Lord will bless His people with peace.

Psalms 29:10-11 (New American Standard Bible)

Thank you all for walking this road with me!

Praise God (all Glory to HIM!!) for:

• No evidence of cancer from the scans.
• My fantastic oncology team.
• My lymphedema is manageable with regular treatment.

Pray for:

• No side-effects from continuing on the targeted therapy long term.
• If it's God's will, that He would halt any cancer from returning or spreading.
• God to use my cancer journey in whatever way He would like-that I might be able to encourage someone else going through a similar journey.