June 08, 2008

Bad news, good news and "bad" news

Those that have been reading for awhile will remember back in 2006 when my wife was diagnosed with melanoma cancer and went through a significant surgery followed by almost a year of preventative treatment. That was a horrible and frightening time.

Bad news: Well, the scare returned on Monday this week when we were told that it appeared that the cancer has returned.

Good news: On Friday, she had a PET scan and we got the results today. Fortunately, the tests indicate that the cancer is contained to the same area as before so surgery and preventative treatment should take care of it.

"Bad news": The preventative treatment will be the same Interferon treatment that she had to endure before include a month worth of daily hospital visits for intravenous treatments.

Bobbie is mostly concerned about the Inteferon treatment as it is definitely rough on the body, but the depression side effect bothers her most. Though I am certainly concerned about that as well, I am *far* more relieved that one direct effect is that she gets to be around for years to come.

So, we have a tough several weeks ahead of us, but we'll have to take it one step at a time. We have a couple of advantages this time around that we didn't have the first time around: 1) we've been through it once 2) Killian is almost 4, so he's easier to deal with than last time 3) we have several neighbors with kids that are willing to help us through and 2 of them are stay at home moms. It doesn't mean that it's going to be easy, but it does offer some comfort.

3 comments:

Melissa said...

I will keep Bobbie in my Prayers. Prayers not only for the cancer but for the depression that comes with the treatment. I know very well how hard it is to live with depression. I will be Praying for you all.

odisn said...

I'll keep you guys in my thoughts, and try to send some good vibes your way.

Paul McRae said...

Thank you both. All forms of good vibes are most welcome.