Scan results!

Hi friends and family!

Well we didn't get the news we were hoping for but we didn't get the news we were dreading either! My husband Scott already wrote out an e-mail to his friends that I will just copy and paste here pertaining to the results of Emily's scan.

"Well Emily had a scan this morning to determine the progress of her treatment. This is the first scan she had since her radiation treatment in June. The results of the scan showed that there was still cancer in her neck and her lungs so we will have to take her back tomorrow morning for another large dose of radiation. Again, as I stated earlier, this form of radiation treatment doesn't really have any side effects other than she has to be completely isolated for a few days while her radiation levels go down. There's also a catheter she has to get during that time which is painful for her, but it's still not as bad as a lot of other forms of treatment so we're VERY grateful for that.

The goods news is that the cancer is in the same areas as it was 6 months a go, which means it didn't spread to any of the other locations it could have like her legs or even her skull. We've been very nervous the last few days waiting for the scan that it may have spread, and even though we were hoping the radiation would have fully done it's job the first time, we are extremely relieved that there was no expansion.

Emily's in good spirits, she's dreading the catheter and the alone time, but she's remained resilient through everything she's faced up to this and I don't expect that to change.

Personally, I suspect that when the surgeon gets a look at the new scan and sees that the areas in her neck didn't clear up from the radiation he's going to want to cut into the other side of her neck and take that out. (He had declined the surgery previously because he had just operated on the left side and didn't want to put off the radiation treatment while waiting for her body to recover from the surgery.) I'm not all that worried about that actually. Surgery is surgery and obviously neck surgery is very risky, but we have a fantastic surgeon and we'd gladly pay the price of having another life long neck scar to enhance her chances of a full cure. But then that's all speculation on my part at this point.

I'd like to sincerely thank those of you who sent gifts and sent encouraging messages and most of all your prayers and friendships. All that stuff is greatly appreciated by both Emily and my wife and I. Thanks again.I'll give another update after her treatment to let you guys know how she did and again in the future when the situation changes. Thanks again for your time and well wishes."

Scott and I remain hopeful and feel like today is still a small victory because the cancer didn't spread!

A couple of weeks ago I joined an online support group of parents with kids who have Thyroid Cancer. I received a very encouraging message from one of the moms that I wanted to share with you all....

"Crystal -

I just wanted to send you a note about Emily's upcoming scan. Please don't be dismayed if her scan isn't clean. My daughters first scan showed extensive metsto lungs and one knee. Her second scan (11 mos. after 1st RAI, showed mets in both lungs still. She was admitted immediately for 2nd RAI. She was given only75 mCi's and had to stay in hospital for only about 15 hrs. It was much less nessscary the second time, and wasn't for 2 1/2 days like the first. Her subsequentscan (3rd) about 10 mos later was clear! I will pray that this time Emily's scan is clear, and know that I will be thinking about you both during the scan."

Now we are off to celebrate another day that we have with our family and just rejoice that Emily's cancer didn't spread and do our best to remain positive. We are going sledding with our good friends the Stangers!!!!

Don't get me wrong this isn't a walk in the park for me today. It was a VERY hard morning waiting for the results and after hearing that this isn't over yet I felt extremely discouraged and just overwhelmed with the thought of having to wait this out even longer. But my faith is stronger than ever and I feel so blessed to have such amazing friends and family who just want to surround us and Emily with love and encouragement!

OK gotta get ready to go sledding!!!!!!! Blessed be His name!