Miracles Do Happen Every Now & Then

I generally don't blog much about my Mom and her condition.  Mostly because I don't want to give incorrect information and also, if I write it, that means it is real.  However, today is an exception.

I have been hesitant to write this blog and have been sitting on it since early October.  I thought about how to write this and believe in what I am saying.  Perhaps this will help me believe that this is real, and miracles can happen.  We have been given so many bad answers, when something is good happens, it is hard to believe that it is real.

But first the history.....


May 2010
Mom was diagnosed with Stage 4 Esophageal Cancer (EC) and would have to undergo triple round chemo for six months. This means she would be taking chemo pills two times a day and every few weeks she would get a chemo transfusion. The oncologist advised the family that Mom would get very sick, very fast.....and she did.



December 2010
I made the trip back to California for Christmas, because I didn't know where this roller coaster was going to take us. If I didn't and something happened to her I would never be able to forgive myself for not making the time to be with her. When our plan landed in SJO I was so nervous I though that I would throw up!  I had not seen her since May and not knowing what she would look like scared me. I would not let her see that I was scared or worried. I felt that I needed  to be strong for her. She had been strong for our family at the hard times and we needed to be strong for her.  She had just finished her six months of Chemo and had gotten the news that even with all they had done, she was still not a candidate for surgery and every three months they would monitor her tumor(s) with Positron Emission Tomography Scans (P.E.T.). 

March 2011
Three month check up went well.  The P.E.T. scan showed that the tumor(s) had not spread, grown or shrunk.  She was still not a candidate and that things were still just "statis quo".  Mom was regaining her strength and had returned to work. She works at an Elementary School with children that have special needs.

June 2011
With the one year mark behind us, things started to return to normal. Mom was getting stronger and with summer on the way things started to look brighter.  In May, I flew out to San Jose, to celebrate her birthday with diner at her favorite restaurant in San Fransisco. To commemorate her one year mark, I ran the Bay to Breakers in her honor.

October 2011

I had just gotten news two days before my Marathon that her third three month check up brought back new results.  The P.E.T. scan showed the tumor(s) were not prevalent. This means that when she was injected intravenously with contrast, the tumor(s) would "glow".  In her case, there were no masses glowing on her scan. So a few weeks later she was scheduled for an endoscope . The endoscope results showed that her esophagus was inflamed and that there are a few lesions.  She needed to go on medication for a few weeks to help her esophagus become uninflamed and then the endoscope would be repeated.

December 2011

Six weeks passed and the endoscope was repeated.  Her results showed that there was no cancer.  Yes you read that right, there is NO cancer! However results show that Barrett's Disease is present.  This is not a life of death disease, but this does mean that she will need to be aware of what she eats as not to inflame her esophagus.  At this time, she will continue to get P.E.T scans every three to four months and endoscope's biannually.

My opening for this blog reads:

If you have cancer, if someone you love has it, even if you are a grunt like me-it's a long march. It's not going to be over in a day. During the toughest miles, you find out you're all alone, but at the same time, you feel incredibly connected. You learn that you're capable of doing things you never could have imagined. Running makes you try, in it's way, cancer makes you try too.

Running makes you try, makes you fight thru the pain, teaches you not to give up, pushes your body to its limits, but most of all it makes me feel connected to Mom.  She is half of me and when I run I can feel her pumping thru my veins, so I feel like she is with me.  Mom and I reached our destinations that we set out to do.  Her's to kick Cancers Ass and mine, to finish the Marathon. It was not easy and it was hard, sometimes you feel alone and lost, but somewhere deep down inside of you, "it" finds you.  "It" gives you strength when you have none, gives you courage when you are scared, and when you need it most, "it" is there. We all have it, but only when you are pushed to your limits is when you will find it. It's then you realize that you have done something that you never thought you could do.