You're Never Out Of The Woods, But You Might Be In A Clearing

We just got finished speaking with Dr. X, the surgeon.

She was very pleased with the surgery itself. She was able to take all of the lymph nodes that were either affected by the cancer, or otherwise seemed inflamed. Because of this, they were able to get by without the interoperational radiation they thought they might have to do.

The lymph nodes she took are being sent for biopsy to determine if the inflammation is, in fact, due to the presence of the cancer (which Dr. X seems convinced is the case with regard to at least some of the nodes) or if they were simply inflamed for some other reason. Those biopsies will come back maybe Monday or Tuesday.

But we had a pretty damned good day, in my view, all things considered. There are no macroscopically affected lymph nodes in my sister anymore. The tumor is gone. Along with my sister's uterus and ovaries and maybe a few other parts, I'm not sure. And my sister, according to Dr. X, tolerated the surgery well and should have a pretty easy time recovering from it.

But, you know, it's cancer. We don't know what happens next. There will probably be more treatments of one sort or another. As I say, I don't think we can ever say we are out of the woods... but for today, let's give ourselves and my sister some credit... it looks like we found a clearing we can stand around in for a while. So let's enjoy whatever little bit of sunshine we can gather, while we may.

Comments

[vicky]

aaah. love a good clearing. let's build a little campfire & warm our hands. i'm sending waves of positive energy, that your sister's recovery from this surgery may be as quick and comfortable as possible. and i'll say it again: you guys are lucky to have each other. xoxo