Good News! and: Grace

Brain cancer is...

 ...tentatively unchanged.

One thing we appreciate about the blog is that it helps us think about the story we write with our lives each day.  And it helps us be prepared when the story shifts suddenly...like today.  We saw one story until about 8:30 a.m., and then we saw a different, ultimately more important story.

The more important story is above.  The radiologist's impressions of Darrell's scan from this morning report no evidence that Darrell's cancer is growing (#1, above).  Nor do they report evidence of any other scary brain thing (#2).  You know the drill:  Findings are tentative until Dr. Cloughesy gives the GBM expert thumbs up, but the early report is great.

And so you see:  This story is definitely the story of the day.

Grace

Just because we wrote a draft of it in our heads, here's the story that was eclipsed.
—Stop reading here, as you like.—
Cancer Course seems to heighten our senses and our tendency to reflect.

When we did so today, the word grace seemed to capture our experiences well.

First, when we removed our rings before heading for St. Jude this morning, this image...

...provided a sweet, unexpected moment of beauty for me.

When we arrived for check in, the staff couldn't locate Darrell's paperwork.  "Is there a problem?" Darrell asked.
"Yes."
Due to errors on their part, Darrell was only halfway scheduled.  And because he wasn't fully scheduled, they didn't know to contact us in advance when Darrell's usual machine, the 3T was out of commission.* 

Oh no!

The word grace?  Somewhat atypically perhaps, we both held onto our positive attitudes and asked, "What can we do to get the scan done?"  Because we felt calm and forgiving, we were able to be patient as the medical team worked Darrell into the schedule on the spot for another machine, the 1.5T.

Somehow having Darrell and me both feel calm and open to others and to problem solving felt like a real gift of grace.  Each staff member was supportive and helped the scan experience go well.

Also graceful?

A guy who can keep smiling and make puffy shorts and blue booties look goooood.

Thanks for listening to both stories, Team D.  Onward! 

*Cancer scanning talk:  The machine is relevant because at this point in his treatment, Darrell's medical team is interested in making very precise comparisons of images over time.  That's harder when the machine changes, and the 3T machine has better "image noise reduction.")