Never Give Up

I begin this post exactly 364 days after my initial "second" diagnosis; the one that ultimately has had the most impact on my life for the past year.  It was that day that I heard the words I never thought I would hear and encountered the most unpleasant experience of my life, yet as I look back on that day I can confidently say that it was God's plan to get me to today!

So, let's fast forward to today........the day began with my PET scan at 6:30 AM.  These scans end up bringing out a variety of emotions over the course of days leading up to them but this morning as I walked back to the prep room, I felt a sense of calm.  It was as if I was being told that everything was going to be ok.

Immediately following the PET scan, I headed off to get my blood work done.  Boy, today must have been the day of appointments and blood draws at Mayo as the waiting room was a full house this morning at 8:15 AM.  Check number 1 showed levels within the normal range for all things blood related.  Wahooo!

During a normal visit I would then have time to fill before my doctors appointment but today I had the honor and privilege to share my Mayo Clinic story.  What an honor it was to share the amazing experience I have had with the entire staff in Rochester.  There are no words to explain how fortunate I feel to be treated by the best in the industry!  I can't wait to share this with all of you when it is done!

Fast forward to 1 PM, we enter the room and tackle the traditional routine of checking blood pressure, pulse, etc and then wait patiently for Dr. Goetz and the results.  On this day, it ended up being a longer wait than normal which certainly made for an increase in the nerves.  As I kept thinking to myself, what happened to that calm from this morning.

Dr. Goetz arrived with a smile on this face - in my mind this had to be a good sign, right?!?!  It sure was, the first words I heard were..........you are in full remission, there is no sign of any cancer.  None, nothing, no uptake at all!  What, am I dreaming, is this really true?  Sure enough it was as he proceeded to show us the pictures of the scans from the last year.  

My last appointment was my bone hardener injection which went off without a hitch and away we went!  Much better than my last attempt at getting this back home.

Even as I type this, I am not sure it has really set in, but as I finally lay down to sleep tonight I am sure the wave of emotions will hit.  There are so many words that come to mind that it is impossible to get them all down here, but I want to make sure to share how thankful, grateful and blessed I am for all of you and your thoughts and prayers.  Those thoughts and prayers are certainly the difference maker!  Knowing that I have a village behind me fighting the good fight is northing short of a miracle.  And to the man who has given me this opportunity and allowed me to write this post today, Dr. Goetz - thank you!

More to come as I now tackle the next goal in my journey.......to run my 2nd half-marathon!!!  Stay tuned and much love to you all!

Amy