Back Down to Earth

Mike and I have had some time to digest the news, and the shock has worn off. In fact, lately we've been functioning and acting pretty normally. We can't explain fully how we know, but he will be OK.
Since the biopsy results came in, we've done it all. We've shaken our heads, cried, said nothing at all, prayed, researched. His doctors can't explain it (never could) and we can't make sense of it. The docs sent him for another PET/CT scan last Tuesday (even though he had one only a month ago) and also did a bone-marrow biopsy. Both came back perfect. No trace of anything. Even the spots on his legs didn't light up on the scan, but the spots are still there. He feels fine and is healthy and fit in every way. If he never noticed the spots as he was stretching out at the track that morning, we'd never know anything was wrong.
The oncology team will meet and give us their best recommendation for treatment, but their suggestion will include some type of transplant, likely what they call a "MUD" -- matched, unrelated donor. Mike's sister was his donor for his first transplant in 2003.
In the meantime, we haven't been sitting on our hands. We've sunk ourselves heavily into an energy healing system we happened upon last summer. They've had tons of success with cancer patients, and now we've really gotten serious with it. One of the practitioners worked with Mike last weekend and helped fix some blockages he found. On Tuesday, Mike will meet with the "top dog" of the healers, the man who developed this healing system.
Also on Tuesday, we have a meeting with a lymphoma "expert" at the big cancer hospital in the city. This time, we're not rushing into any treatments out of fear. We will not let them scare us into starting anything without good concrete evidence for doing so. Mike keeps repeating a line from one of our favorite movies, "Apollo 13," saying, "Let's work the problem, people. Let's not make things worse by guessing." This whole situation has felt like a five-year guess.
Our employer has been great, with both our managers telling us not to worry about any time off we might need. It's nice at least to have that off our minds.
I've started talking to God a bit again. I guess I do need Him after all. But my stubbornness isn't totally gone, and I have to work on that. A friend and co-worker, Lisa, is a wonderful woman of God and has spoken prophetically to us before about the path of our lives. She's been really getting some wonderful things in prayer lately and it's helped hold us up during this ordeal. There is a plan for us -- a grand one. We can't see it yet, but it's coming. This situation will not end us. For too long, our lives have been so cancer-centric, and we must begin to shift our thinking to where He wants our focus. Last week, we watched "Larry King Live," as it featured one of our favorite Christian performers, Steven Curtis Chapman. Chapman and his wife lost their 5-year-old adopted daughter in May, as she was accidentally hit by a car driven by their son. The strength and faith that family exhibited through a horrific event really touched us. They've asked "why" just as we have, but they haven't let it destroy their faith. In fact, their faith has deepened. I'm trying to learn from that.
Oh, and our latest blip wouldn't be complete without some good ol' fashioned irony. Last Wednesday, our IVF "angel," Leo, e-mailed Mike to say that a fertility clinic in his state (several hours from us) will give us a slot for a free IVF cycle.
God really must have a sense of humor.