Big News

I couldn’t talk about the CT scan until I spoke with the surgeon and understood more. 

The big news (drumroll please) is that the thymoma disappeared! It was a 5 cm mass under my sternum, and it shrunk down to approximately 11 mm, leaving just the thymus! This is HUGE news because it means I don’t need to have the massive open chest surgery! That means I only need to have the lumpectomy on November 28th, which means no long hospital stay and six week recovery. It means I’ll come the same day of the procedure and recover at home. This is amazing news!*

*I’m not throwing a party yet. I’m cautiously optimistic because as the surgeon indicated, this doesn’t just happen. Sure, I had chemo and clearly this mass responded to the chemo, but there’s no explanation as to why, because thymomas don’t typically respond to chemo like this. He suggested it could have been metastatic breast cancer or something else. Since it lit up during the PET scan, it was definitely a “hot spot” for some sort of cancer activity. So going forward the oncologist will need to send me for regular scans and we’ll have to keep an eye on it. 

That’s the cautiously optimistic part. It’s gone, for now. I will always need to keep my eye on this. Maybe it’ll come back again? Maybe it’ll move somewhere else? It’s not easy to get over having cancer because you always feel like you’re under the shadow of it. I’ve read that some people are able to move on and forget. Maybe that will be me one day.

I’m the meantime, I’m quietly rejoicing over the big news that I don’t need that surgery. I pray you are rejoicing with me. I am forever grateful for everyone who lifted me up in prayer, and raised my health and well-being, and my deep fears and worries before God in prayer. My body and soul are healing! Amen.