Sunday, May 1, 2011

CHEMO WITH SOME OPTIMISM

Hi family and friends,

Just wanted to share some more good stuff with all of you here. But before I start, I want to promise everyone that I will do MY very BEST to make sure that my blogs remain as positive and lovely as possible- that will always be my intentions. I refuse to focus my thoughts on the disease. I'd rather fill my mind with thoughts of health and healing. I've come so far from what I was like 2 years ago- spirituall and mentally. Today, I can honestly say that I've become my own version of an optimist. And I've learned that to be an optimist, I must look for the good- so here goes some more GOOD.

BACK @ WORK

Although Luis missed his last treatment (due to an infection by his J tube) he still managed to make great progress on his own at home. He started having these desires everyday to go to work- and he wasn't slowing down either. A few times, (while at work) he would text me and ask if he ever told me that he loves his job?- and I would reply saying yes. I was so happy for the guy. He loves working on cars and says that he could'nt ask to work for a better company than this dealership. And according to him, the guys on his team are the best- very understanding with what his going through, help him out, and even give him the light jobs to work on. He tells me that he thanks GOD everyday for these guys.

CHEMO TIME

On Friday, we went to the treatment center with expectations of him staying for chemo- and (as usual) they got his port accessed and him ready to go. I don't know why they do that first before checking his blood work results. There was a few times where they accessed his port (to get him ready for chemo) then learned that his blood work didn't check out ok with the doc. So they had to send him home with it. But any how, an hour later, Dr. Neelam's assistant comes in and tells us that his blood work looks good and begins to exam him.
She mentions that there's some highs and lows on the chart but nothing that should stop him from getting chemo today- so she puts in the order. She ask's us if anyone has gone over the blood work with us earlier- we said no. She goes on explaining what are some of the stuff they're focused on and begins to point out something on the chart VERY interesting and a bit surprising to her. His tumor marker- it's something that the doctors use to monitor the success of a current therapy. Or another words, check if the cancer is responding well to the treatment or not.

Now I've purposely forgotten about this marker- it serves me no purpose. But because she had such an enthusiastic response to it, (I thought) okay, you got my attention, and I'm listening. She said, (wow Luis, although you've missed a treatment, you still managed to bring your tumor marker down by 2 points). It seemed as though she was impressed. But me and Luis just looked at each other with a BIG smile and felt each others joy. We understand that medical therapy is only part of the plan to help him heal- and that he still has control over his mind. The biggest battle with cancer is in the mind. So once you learn the laws of your mind, you'll experience growth and healing.

Take a look at the picture where the letters CEA (carcinoembryonic antigen) appear!
The marker shows that it's gone down to 17.2 from what it was 19.2 You see, these are the stuff that I love to give my focus to and share it with you guys- things that inspire and fill my heart with joy. :-)

until next time........become your own version of an optimist- even if your current results show darkness!

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