MY RELATIONSHIP WITH CANCER – Part 8
by marifran on Mar.05, 2011, under Random Writings on Relationship
What a week! On Monday February 28, I went to my pulmonologist who told me good news about a mysterious spot on my lungs. I’ve been seeing her, and getting pulmonary CT scans every four months. Since there are many reasons the spot could be nothing, I never worried.
The newest scan showed the spot looking less like a tumor and more like a cyst. It Is about 5 or 6 mm (half inch). So, I don’t have to get another chest CT for a year. That means I don’t have to see the pulmonologist for a year. Yea.
At the urologist-oncologist on Friday, March 4, Dr. B. reiterated my risks of having surgery:
1) The tumor is too near the blood supply, so there would be little chance to save any part of my kidney.
2) Losing a kidney can shorten my life by ten years due to stress on my heart.
3) Due to my compromised lungs, I might not survive the three- hour operation.
Inquiring specifically about the risk of not taking out the kidney, I asked Dr. B.: “What is the percentage of people with a small kidney tumor that experience cancer spreading outside the kidney compared to those whose cancer does not spread?” Dr. B replied that only 1 to 2% experience the cancer spreading and 98 -99% do not experience any spreading. He reminded me that it would be natural for the tumor to grow by 1 or 2 mm a year without the growth being a problem.
While I was at the office, Dr. B could not tell if there’s a size difference from 5 months ago when comparing the CT scan and the ultrasound. The radiologist report wasn’t in yet, though the pictures from the ultrasound were.
At 8 AM this morning, Dr. B. called me to say that the tumor appears to have gotten somewhat smaller. So, though it is still there for now, it is shrinking.
In six months, I will get another ultrasound and see Dr. B. Good news! Everyday, I imagine that tumor disappearing to nothing.
Thank you all for your good thoughts for me.
March 5th, 2011 on 11:33 am
Thank you for sharing this wonderful news. It’s another confirmation that we have to listen to the wisdom of our bodies. They know how to heal themselves without our help. (i.e. A cut automatically heals without having to be told what to do.) In your case, my sense is that your actions created your new reality. You… 1)let go of trying to control the situation. 2)trusted that everything is in divine right order and will work out for your highest good and 3)had the courage to speak your truth to “authorities” (doctors). Your actions were instrumental in creating the healing that’s taking place in your body, mind and spirit. Bravo!!!
March 5th, 2011 on 12:52 pm
Hello Joanne,
Thank you so much. It’s great to have this confirmation that I am doing the right things for myself for now.
Some people apply all the right things: courage, intuition and trust, yet their circumstances do not give them the desired results. Having lost loved ones to cancer, I have no idea why some survive and others do not. While I am pleased with my choices for my situation and would not want it any other way, there still are no guarantees that the tumor won’t spread ever. For now, I am “under surveillance.”
Those that survive any challenge are not better people than those who do not. Happy that I took the risks, I’m not taking credit. I am just grateful for my good fortune. Knowing you is part of that good fortune.
Love,
Marifran
March 5th, 2011 on 2:03 pm
Marifran, your good news is–well, good news. As for the tumor, it’s under control today; has not increased in size, has even shrunk somewhat, and today is all there is. Tomorrow doesn’t exist, it’s nothing and nowhere, a truth I sometimes forget, but must try to to remember. I’m happy for you, dear Cuz, and I appreciate that you share your cancer journey; makes me feel closer to you.
March 5th, 2011 on 8:22 pm
Marifran,
Thanks for this intimate sharing. I am celebrating your good news with you. I appreciate how you partnered with your physician and questioned and explored probabilities.
May the infinite wisdom in your body create alignment and health.
Much love to you, my friend.
Adela
March 5th, 2011 on 11:01 pm
Thank you, Rosemary, for the reminder to stay present. Today IS all there is. I am incredibly grateful in this moment. Glad you are in it.
Giant gobs of glorious gratitude,
Marifran
March 6th, 2011 on 3:56 pm
Marifran, I have learned so much from you through your journey with cancer. Your positive thoughts, commitment to adhering to a diet that aligns with your body (even when “I don’t want to”, and “nothings wrong” through it all is so enlightening. You are peace, a healing spirit and love and I have learned so much from you; thank you for the gift that you are to the world.
March 7th, 2011 on 1:20 am
Great News and YES it will be totally gone soon! Nothing is left as we speak!!
March 28th, 2011 on 11:07 pm
Thanks for sharing. I am a Stage IV colon cancer survivor and also take Tumeric. I also take Milk Thistle, Grape Extract, Ginger Root, Magnesium, Vitamin C, Vitamin D3, Calcium, Vitamin E, Vitamins B. Licorice Root (so I don’t have to take prilosec). I have been cancer free for almost two years. Hope to keep it that way. Keep doing what you are doing, it must be working. Awesome!
March 29th, 2011 on 12:23 am
Hello Raquel,
Thank you for writing and sharing. I am thrilled that you are cancer free. That is quite an accomplishment when you had stage IV.
Most of the supplements you are taking are the same as the ones I am taking. To what do you attribute your present remission?
Wishing you all the best,
Marifran