Doctor Visit - March 4

On Thursday, March 4th, we had a fairly long day at the University of Iowa. We arrived before 10 AM (it was so nice that we did not have to arrive before 8 AM!) - and got home about 5 PM. The only challenge that morning was that I could not eat after midnight because of the PET scan I would be having.

My first stop was for an ultrasound. I thought that was strange, because they had done an ultrasound on my arms (which I questioned at the time why it was my arms and not my legs) about 5 weeks earlier. Because they did not find any blood clots, I was able to stop taking my blood thinner. This time, my ultrasound was on my legs. There was a student who was learning how to do ultrasounds, so she got to work on part of my left leg while the tech watched. I assured her that I did not bite - hard. Of course, they could not tell me what they found (or did not find), but I learned later that I still had a partial blood clot where there had been one last fall. That just means that I am back on blood thinners for two more months.

My next stop was for a PET scan. This would be my third one, so they did not have to explain the process to me. They took me back to a room, got some information from me, placed an IV in my arm, put a chemical needed for the scan into it, and then I laid back for an hour while the chemical did its job inside me. They give you your choice of music, but when the nurse asked if I was OK with listening to the Hosanna Station that was already on the computer, I agreed, expecting it to be praise and worship music. Well, it was actually gospel, which is not my one of my preferred genres. Even so, several of the songs spoke to me. The lyrics were filled with words about praising God because He is worthy, God being my healer, and the goodness of God.

When the hour was up, they took me to the scanner and got me all comfortable on the "bench" that moves through the scanner. I remembered how difficult it was for me to lie down for my first PET scan last fall. It was total agony. But this time that was not a problem at all. They got me a warm blanket, turned praise and worship music on for me in the room, and the scan finished in less than 20 minutes.

Next, we went to eat a light lunch at one of the cafeterias in the hospital. We went from there to the Cancer Clinic, where they took blood to run my labs. I learned later that my numbers were all good, but my hemoglobin was exceptional. It was 14.5, which was the first time it had been in the normal range. From the time we returned to the US last fall, my hemoglobin was just under normal at its best.

The doctor said that the PET scan results were great - and that I was lymphoma free. While there were a few spots where there were some residual signs of lymphoma, he was not concerned because he felt that the chemo was still doing its work, and they would soon be gone completely.

It was so funny when my nurse saw me. Her response, "Phil, you have HAIR!", made us laugh. All during chemo, I wore a hat when I went to the hospital. After I finished chemo, I stopped wearing a hat inside, even though I still did not have much hair.

Denise told me recently that I look more like myself again (because I have hair). I remember at Christmas when Denise's sister said that I sounded like myself again. It was interesting to me at my internal response both times - I was "me" that whole time. I know exactly what they meant, because it also gave me a boost to hear that I was getting back to normal (whatever that is).

More than anything, we are thankful for God's presence and peace that were always with us. But we are also grateful for the many people all around the world, who prayed for us during this time. I have to continue with regular checkups, as is normally the case, but I am a SURVIVOR! Praise God!

Now that I am healthy, I will start going to the gym to get stronger, because I am much weaker than I was last summer. Most important of all, we are now planning to return to Ukraine in June. That is so exciting because we have missed being there and our friends there have missed us!

Great is God's faithfulness!