"Healing" is such a lovely word!

Since I last wrote in this blog it has been a time full of ups and downs. I guess when you have a cancer diagnosis this is to be expected.

Paul and I went to Paris in June for our 33rd wedding anniversary and we had a fantastic holiday! It's somewhere I have always wanted to go so we decided that now was the time. You just never know how long you have on this earth so it's best to do these types of things when you have the opportunity. We saw the beautiful city and all it's touristy sights and of course indulged in the food and the wine! It was my first trip to any part of Europe and my first very long air flight! It was quite the experience!

We came home about 10 days later and what should I have to come home to? Mail and phone calls telling me that I now have appointments I wasn't expecting and I was supposed to go back and see the oncologist who was in charge of my chemotherapy the last time I went through this.  To say I was a bit upset is an understatement. WHY?? That was the question on my mind. I didn't mind seeing my oncologist again as he is a wonderful doctor, but anytime they call you in when you weren't expecting it is nerve wracking.   I had yet another CT scan and blood work. I also had the appointment with the oncologist. Since I had a bone scan at the end of May he had those results and he also had the results from the CT scan.  He said that there was no sign of the cancer affecting any areas other than the bone which is the "best prognosis possible". He thought the bone scan in late May might have detected a flare response present in the bone that is rebuilding and wanted to confirm this with another bone scan. If the areas that were affected (the 6th left rib and the skull vault) show reduction in size then that would confirm that the medication I am on is working. It would also confirm what I have been feeling...less area specific pain.

So, I went to have another bone scan one week ago. For the scan, a radioactive substance is injected into your vein, which for me is in my hand. (The veins in my arms are no longer visible due to the chemo-therapy I had 8 years ago.) It's called a tracer and it travels through your bloodstream and then into your bones. It's a long time at the hospital as you have to wait a full two hours between the injection and the scan. It was easier to go through it this time as I was trying my hardest to be very positive throughout the scan. I knew, though, that I would have to wait about a week before I heard any news.

Well, today my doctor called with good news! He says that the bone scans are looking very good and that I am healing and I should just continue with the Letrozole. I will see him in another three months for more scans and appointments. 

For the next three months I will be: loving each new day, snuggling up on the couch with Martini in the mornings while I have my morning coffee, giving my hubby the biggest hugs I can give him, trying to spend as much time as I can with our girls and making sure they know how much I love them, painting anything that I want to paint, having lunches with my good friends, visiting my mom (but now with a much lighter heart) and visiting with family. I will also continue to work hard on myself with my reading, meditating, writing in my journal, etc. I will also be eating foods that are very healthy for me and of course, occasionally eating things that aren't. ;-)

I am going to list some of the books that I have been reading and that have changed my life forever. They are:  Real Happiness - the power of meditation by Sharon Salzberg****Excuses Begone, Wishes Fulfilled and Change your Thoughts, Change Your Life, all by Wayne W. Dyer**** Super Immunity by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.**** The Definitive Guild to Cancer by Alschuler/Gazella****Defy Gravity by Caroline Myss**** Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips by Kris Carr**** You Can Heal Your LIfe by Louise Hay. I read a variety of these each and every morning and I just can't tell you how much these books have helped me.

So, I think I will include a few pictures here of our trip to Paris.

From top to bottom they are: me at the restaurant we went to for our anniversary, Moulin Rouge, Eiffel Tower, a street in the Montmartre district where our hotel was, me with a real Picasso at the George Pompideau Centre, Paul with the bottle of wine we enjoyed with our anniversary meal, Paul with "Silver Man", the Louvre, our hotel.

Such a busy time for Paul and I. I am very glad that I can now just continue on with what I have been doing and enjoy my summer! :)