Friday 9 September 2016

Our miracle

I'm not sure where to start. I'll start with the incredible news we received today.

The tumour is benign!

I slept very well last night (the nurses were very kind and decided not to interrupt me in the night to take my vital signs). I was feeling great this morning, the drain was taken out and I was discharged. Having a doctor for a husband has proved very handy indeed and things happened quickly and smoothly. It also meant I received lots of visitors and lots of special treatment. Thanks John!

It was wonderful to be home and back with John, Mum and the girls. Our friend Felicity took Elle out with her kids for the morning and she had a great time. I settled back in and rested. While we were having lunch the surgeon called John. Once they had finished talking this is how the conversation went:

Me: looking curiously at John.....
John: The pathology is back. You have a benign pleomorphic adenoma
Me: You mean I don't have cancer?
John: Yes!
Me: You mean I will die when I'm old?
John: Yes!

Needless to say we were in shock and amazed and so so grateful. It's only just starting to sink in now, hours later. We called family (woke them up) and friends and were just amazed. The surgeon called John again and she is just as thrilled as we were. We called her later as well and I talked to her to thank her. This is when things became more real.

Dr Ch'ng said that she was thrilled and relieved for us. She and her husband had been talking about us and feeling pretty desperate (they also have two young children). She said she would have given me 5-10 years (starting to sink in now). As she was performing the surgery she prayed. She said the tumour did not look cancerous and looked like other benign tumours she had removed. She called the pathologist that analysed the biopsy results and the pathologist said she was certain it was Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma. Dr Ch'ng wasn't convinced. She asked for the pathology on the tumour to be rushed through and it was. It came back today and she called straight away - the tumour is benign. It is a pleomorphic adenoma. I do not have cancer!

This news is an answer to prayers.....to so many prayers! We have said many prayers of thanks today. I feel that I have been given a second chance, that I have been given my life back. I don't know that I can put my emotions into words right now.

I will write more tomorrow. I also have other posts to finish, posts about how I was feeling about the diagnosis and about how our lives had changed forever.

What I can say is that our lives will never be the same and that we will never take life for granted anymore! Thank you. Just thank you everyone.