"Waiting is the Hardest Part..."

Good old Tom Petty (God rest his soul). He must have understood waiting because he has an entire song about it..

The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you get one more yard
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part
Yeah, the waiting is the hardest part

I've received a few phone calls (or Shawn has) in the last few days and I realized I never updated the blog about the plans for this week. 

Last week (blog post coming), I spent most of the week at swim meets with some final baseball games thrown in (yeah, life!!). When I wasn't there, I was calling/texting/having coffee with cancer survivors to chat about common and uncommon experiences. 

Here's one of my favorites :) More on those visits tomorrow. 

Last week held both a lot of peace as well as information that was difficult to digest. Hearing survival stories is incredible when I realize all that these women and men have done to stay alive. Even if sometimes scary (for me), all of the stories were hopeful and beautiful and we were talking to each other, so I'm going to call that a win. So many resources - so much love - the cards continue to pour in and now GIFTS!! (not a ploy for more gifts). The food is endless and the prayers are sustaining us. 

Because we all know "It Follows", this week will be a bit different. Shawn and I meet with two oncologists and my colon specialist (different days, thank you, God). We are triple-checking the options before going forward...So no chemo is scheduled for this week...but most likely the week after (although I refuse to have chemo on my 19th anniversary 7/22).

Our first meeting was today with an oncologist recommended by a friend in the same practice (they are actually all in the same practice because it's considered one of the best in Denver). He was a lovely man and we finally got a big chunk of information regarding my cancer. I am fairly certain that the info will be the same on Thursday and I'll spare you info on my colon tomorrow :). 

(The one bright spot is that our friend - also an oncologist - came out to hang out with us after our appointment and made us laugh and laugh and offered help with our kids and I asked him to pick them up at camp at noon and it was all so normal. Thank you, Bob J). 

Most recent info (some repetitious): I have a tumor on my rectum (avg size); two swollen (probably cancerous) lymph nodes near the tumor; I have a spot on my left hip (probably cancer); two on my liver (small) and a bunch of spots on my lungs too small to diagnose. (You'll quickly learn that there is A LOT of guessing in cancer). Standard practice is to shoot chemo at these suckers and hope they shrink. There are A GOOD AMOUNT of colorectal-cancer related terms which can impact what type of chemo I get or if I am eligible for immunotherapy (a lot like chemo but does things a little differently). I am not a candidate for the immunotherapy at this point because of my genes (please email if you'd like specifics) but I have some other tests to come in which will confirm the third type of chemo (I'll have 3) they should give me. I can start the other 2 before the tests come in, so we'll see. 

Because a number of people have been asking/pestering (ha ha - this is for you, Steph), I have completely switched my diet to plant-based with no processed foods, no gluten, dairy or refined sugar. Although our medical doctors have all said "there is no clear evidence" surrounding this, all of the survivors I've spoken with (and a number of those studied in a book I'll share soon) did a total overhaul of their diet throughout cancer treatment and after. I am incorporating A LOT of supplements (with more to come), 40oz of fruits and vegetables juiced daily (because of the bag); and daily exercise to get oxygen pouring through my system. I meet with an acupuncturist next week and will discuss all of that more later. 

Lastly (because Dr B wouldn't go get the kids from camp since he had to save people today), I want to put out there that this is really serious. I know it is. The doctors are very positive but always say, "The number of survivors is small." But there is no state of being called "dying." You are either ALIVE  or dead. I am alive until I am not. And so are you.