I hope that this post is my final "in treatment" episode.  I'll have more to report in a few weeks, but God sure was answering prayers this week in amazing ways.  

My surgery day went very smoothly. In fact, I was awakened in the middle of a few nights prior with thoughts of which plants I forgot to tell my family to water instead of concerns about the surgery. How's that for supernatural peace?! 

A friend who was encouraging me before the surgery said not to worry because I wouldn't remember much of surgery day.  That got me thinking about surgery experiences.  I have been very blessed in that I don't tend to feel intense anxiety about medical procedures.  However, I have to admit that wheeling into the OR isn't my favorite memory-you know, seeing all the intimidating equipment around. In my past surgeries, I remember getting the oxygen mask and counting to 10 in the OR and then nothing. It’s not terrible, but still not the best memories. This time, thanks to the prompting from my friend, I was praying beforehand about that. It was awesome to see how God answered that prayer.

When they parked me in the hall outside the OR to await my chats with the anesthesiologist, nurse and my doctor, I was greeted by a window with a grand view towards the east with the stunning, snow-covered mountains. It reminded me of this verse:

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

~Psalms 121:1-2

When I commented on my scenic view, Dr. B said she is usually assigned to the interior hall.  I guess God decided to upgrade my "reservation".  After signing all the papers, my anesthesiologist gave me the lovely "don't remember anything" dose. I remember moving myself from the “travel bed” to the OR bed and then literally NOTHING after that. Wow, what a gift! I love when God answers prayers in a big way. 

My doctor gave C. R. a positive report after surgery, while I was in recovery.  Dr. B was very happy with the results. She said all the lymph nodes she took out didn't even look like lymph nodes anymore. She said she would be surprised if pathology came back with anything resembling live tumor. I transferred to a hospital room soon after, and by late afternoon was enjoying a delicious turkey dinner-no joke, Intermountain Health has the best cafeterias of any hospital I've ever experienced. My nurses and assistants, both overnight and the next day, were amazing, but trying to sleep with all the interruptions at the hospital was nearly impossible.  So, I was determined to get myself out of bed with plenty of pain meds on board and prove I was ok to go home. It worked!  God graciously granted success in pain control and other than another small slip in my hemoglobin numbers, everything looked good for my discharge on Tuesday.  It was great to be home.  My pain was, and continues to be, manageable, and I'm sleeping way better than in the hospital.  

The best news is that I spotted the biopsy report in my health chart yesterday and took a look.  I'm getting pretty good at reading all the medical-ese, so when I read "benign" 4 times in the report I was pretty optimistic.  Dr. B called last night, very excited, and confirmed that I read the report correctly-there was no evidence of cancer anywhere in the lymph nodes she removed. There is one lymph node she didn't feel comfortable pursuing to remove due to how deep it was and the scarring around it (from the targeted therapy doing its job), but she said it was unlikely that node could possibly contain any cancer, based on the other nodes removed. The tumor board (that awesome local group of melanoma oncologists, surgeons and specialists who put their brains together to make treatment recommendations for patients) will discuss my case November 17, and it’s very likely the recommendation will be to stop treatment and watch things closely. 

So, that's why I pray this might be the "season finale" of this part of my melanoma journey.  I have no future guarantees (none of us do, right?) But being off treatment after 2+ years since my recurrence sounds wonderful and I praise God for that!  

I cannot thank you all enough for your prayers, notes, love and support!

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

• Successful surgery and recovery.
• No evidence of cancer in the lymph nodes removed!
• Abundance of peace surrounding the surgery.
• Hemoglobin levels went back up.

Pray for:

• The tumor board to have wisdom on what to do next.
• If it's God's will, that He would halt any cancer from returning or spreading.
• God to be glorified in my life.
• Continued successful recovery, including reduced swelling in my leg, less need for pain meds and being able to remove the surgical drain soon.