Upcoming PET scan

I’ve had a nice break from doctor visits, tests and procedures.  I’ve rather enjoyed it, but next week I will be back in the hot seat again. I will be having a follow-up PET scan on Tues, Feb 4^th. I have not found any new lumps, and I’m not overly concerned. This test is just to make sure that there are no surprises. Of course even standard follow-up tests bring with them a certain amount of nervousness, so if you think of me please pray. Pray that I will get clean results and that I will be able to rest in the Lord during the week I will have to wait for my results.

 Luckily PET scans aren’t a huge deal. They are not cheap but at least for me I think they are easier to do than an MRI. The goal of the PET scan is to find any cancer that is throughout your body. The test is used when a doctor is concerned with distant recurrences of cancer. What that means is that the cancer has spread from its original site. Since I had a local recurrence last year, this caused the doctors to be more concerned about distant recurrences. I believe that it is a standard test to do after you have had any recurrence. This will be my second and hopefully last PET scan.

This February marks the third February that I have been dealing with cancer. The last two times the calendar said “February” I have found a lump. The last two Marchs I have been diagnosed with cancer. So you can understand my growing weariness of this time of year. I would so like to break this pattern this year! And I’m hoping that this PET scan will do this. If it comes back clean, then I should be able to rest a little easier the rest of the month!

Of course this test is just that – a test. It is nothing more. The One I really put my hope and trust in is God. It is so easy to put a lot of weight on a certain test or diagnosis. To think that this test is the one that means that I am totally free of cancer and don’t have to worry. Or to be cancer free this many years means that I’m home free. But that is not the way cancer always works. It doesn’t always follow the rules that we make for it. And we are not really doing ourselves any favors anyway if we put too much weight on these human things. God is the one in control. He is where my hope should solely lie. And every time I start to get nervous about a test I just remind myself of that. I may not know what the future holds but I can trust the One who does!  

How I Got Free Tickets to Amusement Parks in Florida

It’s been a long time since I updated my blog. Like everyone else I got busy with Christmas. I kept meaning to write something, but never made the time to. I really meant to write when I got my first haircut. OK it wasn’t much of a haircut – there wasn’t much hair actually cut, but the help she gave me to understand how to get my hair to cooperate was outstanding. My hair is still pretty short, but it is growing and as it does it is getting curlier. The curl actually makes it super easy to style in the morning.

The big news though is that we just got back from Florida. We have been planning for this trip for a while now. We actually started planning for it around this time last year, but then my recurrence kind of got in the way. How dare you cancer! The trip then got moved back and turned into a reward for getting through this long year.

We had a blast in Florida. And we are happy to say that we missed out on the record cold weather that Illinois had while we were gone. The boys were able to experience their first plane ride, go to the beach, and of course do Disney. I had my doubts that we all would be able to hold up for 5 days in Disney plus the other things we had planned, but I’m happy to report that we did great. The boys were real troopers and had a lot of fun. My body also was able to handle the walking. We are so glad we were able to experience this as a family!

But the real reason that I actually decided to write this blog is to share with you how I got free tickets to Busch Gardens, Sea World, and Universal Studios. I know that there are others out there that might be planning a trip to Florida in the future and could benefit from this info. Of course the big catch is that you have to be going through a life-threatening illness to get the tickets. But you probably already guessed that right?

Anyway I was really excited when I learned that I qualified to get these tickets. The organization is not well published. They do not have a website even, but they were very friendly when I called them. They were also very easy to work with. Their name is Compassion Partners (407-396-5320). They are only able to work with Busch Gardens, Sea World and Universal Studios. Sorry no Disney. All I needed to do was to get a letter from my doctor stating my diagnosis and that she considered it a life-threatening illness. They do not put any other requirements on it, and you do not have to be considered terminal.  When I mentioned it to my doctor, she was more than happy to help me.

I’m also happy to report that it was very easy to enter the parks. I had a letter from Compassion and had to show my driver’s license. That’s it. And the whole family got in free! If anyone out there is planning a trip to Florida soon and wants more info you can email me or else just call the phone number above. The person who answered was more than happy to help me with the list of info that they needed from me and my doctor.