I woke up this morning, and turned towards Tom’s hospital bed to tell him about the craziest dream I had – we had been told he was cancer-free and that this was going to all be over soon. When I looked over at him, he gave me a certain smile that all of a sudden made me realize it wasn’t a dream – yesterday really happened. We are STILL cancer-free. Whoever said that winning isn’t everything obviously never had cancer. The icing on the cake today – WE ARE HOME!!!!!!
As we were preparing for surgery, they told us that depending on how surgery went and how he did recovering that we should anticipate 3-5 days in ICU and then a few more days in surgical recovery. We are home after only three nights in the hospital total – take that cancer!!! During this whole fight we never denied the diagnosis, but we did try to defy the verdict of what “should” happen and the timeframes they gave us. Our doctors came by this morning and told us that we could go home once we got Tom off the IV’s and made sure he was okay with the pain and without oxygen. He passed with flying colors and actually felt the pain was better once the IV was gone and he could use the oral pain pills which was especially pleasing. It was a little crazy that we were just waiting for the doctor to come back to give us the all clear – usually we knew exactly when we would be able to go home because of our chemo timer!
While we were waiting for the okay to go home our oncologist walked into the room – there was a part of us that was going to wait for her to tell us we were cancer-free before we told anyone just to be sure. In a sick way – over the last five months we got so used to not catching a break that we were waiting for the other shoe to drop. Our oncologist has been with us since day one, she is one of the best doctors we’ve ever seen, and for her to come in and smile and tell us we beat the cancer was an unbelievable feeling. She acknowledged that she did not think the tumor would be cancer free, and either did the pathologists.
She gave us the biggest hugs and said to focus on his recovery. We will see her in about a week and get a plan for the future. In the short term, we will get his port out, in the longer term we will be getting scans and blood work done every three months for the foreseeable future. Given the aggressive type of cancer Tom had we will work hard to stay ahead of any problems that could arise.
Before we left, some of our oncology nurses came up to our room to celebrate with Tom since they heard the news. It’s so cool to see the full circle of this diagnosis – and it must be so cool for the nurses who put so much into their patients to see a patient beat cancer too. They thanked us for letting them be a part of this, and our lives - I couldn’t even believe that – if anyone is owed any thanks it’s them. I about cried! They truly are part of the reason we were able to beat this.
Tom is feeling well, all things considered, and is moving well. It’s amazing to see the progress he has made in just a few days. On Wednesday morning it took multiple people to get him out of bed and to a chair and today he was able to get up and down, though slowly and in pain, on his own. We also had a good chuckle about his departure. Once we got the all clear, I got us packed up and went to go get the car and bring it to the door. Meanwhile, they called a transport volunteer and they wheeled him down in a wheelchair to the door where we can then get him in the car. Tom’s transport man was easily 80 years old, rolling a 31 year old out of the cardiac/surgical unit. I literally laughed out loud and this sweet man could hardly believe that Tom had been so sick. You would think in a more “normal” situation the two of them would switch places. We smiled the whole way home and I really think being home also helps lift the spirits – we spent 27 nights in the hospital in the past few months and are excited to avoid another stay for as long as possible!
We received so many amazing messages and calls filled with excitement about our news – but I must say, it hasn’t sunk in yet for us. Weather we knew it or not at the time, when we got the diagnosis back in September we chose to be survivors, not victims. It wasn’t a conversation we had, but a mindset that we both immediately had – and I think that is part of the reason we are still in shock. It’s not shock that we did it – that was always the plan – it’s the shock that this finish line danced around like a drunk person at bar close, but we made it. More to come…
As we were preparing for surgery, they told us that depending on how surgery went and how he did recovering that we should anticipate 3-5 days in ICU and then a few more days in surgical recovery. We are home after only three nights in the hospital total – take that cancer!!! During this whole fight we never denied the diagnosis, but we did try to defy the verdict of what “should” happen and the timeframes they gave us. Our doctors came by this morning and told us that we could go home once we got Tom off the IV’s and made sure he was okay with the pain and without oxygen. He passed with flying colors and actually felt the pain was better once the IV was gone and he could use the oral pain pills which was especially pleasing. It was a little crazy that we were just waiting for the doctor to come back to give us the all clear – usually we knew exactly when we would be able to go home because of our chemo timer!
While we were waiting for the okay to go home our oncologist walked into the room – there was a part of us that was going to wait for her to tell us we were cancer-free before we told anyone just to be sure. In a sick way – over the last five months we got so used to not catching a break that we were waiting for the other shoe to drop. Our oncologist has been with us since day one, she is one of the best doctors we’ve ever seen, and for her to come in and smile and tell us we beat the cancer was an unbelievable feeling. She acknowledged that she did not think the tumor would be cancer free, and either did the pathologists.
She gave us the biggest hugs and said to focus on his recovery. We will see her in about a week and get a plan for the future. In the short term, we will get his port out, in the longer term we will be getting scans and blood work done every three months for the foreseeable future. Given the aggressive type of cancer Tom had we will work hard to stay ahead of any problems that could arise.
Before we left, some of our oncology nurses came up to our room to celebrate with Tom since they heard the news. It’s so cool to see the full circle of this diagnosis – and it must be so cool for the nurses who put so much into their patients to see a patient beat cancer too. They thanked us for letting them be a part of this, and our lives - I couldn’t even believe that – if anyone is owed any thanks it’s them. I about cried! They truly are part of the reason we were able to beat this.
Tom is feeling well, all things considered, and is moving well. It’s amazing to see the progress he has made in just a few days. On Wednesday morning it took multiple people to get him out of bed and to a chair and today he was able to get up and down, though slowly and in pain, on his own. We also had a good chuckle about his departure. Once we got the all clear, I got us packed up and went to go get the car and bring it to the door. Meanwhile, they called a transport volunteer and they wheeled him down in a wheelchair to the door where we can then get him in the car. Tom’s transport man was easily 80 years old, rolling a 31 year old out of the cardiac/surgical unit. I literally laughed out loud and this sweet man could hardly believe that Tom had been so sick. You would think in a more “normal” situation the two of them would switch places. We smiled the whole way home and I really think being home also helps lift the spirits – we spent 27 nights in the hospital in the past few months and are excited to avoid another stay for as long as possible!
We received so many amazing messages and calls filled with excitement about our news – but I must say, it hasn’t sunk in yet for us. Weather we knew it or not at the time, when we got the diagnosis back in September we chose to be survivors, not victims. It wasn’t a conversation we had, but a mindset that we both immediately had – and I think that is part of the reason we are still in shock. It’s not shock that we did it – that was always the plan – it’s the shock that this finish line danced around like a drunk person at bar close, but we made it. More to come…