Despite the twists and turns of living with cancer, my husband and I have never given up. We’ve remained positive and focussed on making things better. From raising much needed funds for charity, to creating the Riverbank Relatives Room in our local hospital, to head pecking local medical experts into making changes, we’ve kept going. Sure what else is there to do? Give up?? Nope. Recently I received a wonderful letter that included a the words ‘thank you for your conscientious persistence in this matter’. Hubby was quick to get me a baseball hat made, with ‘Conscientious Persister’ embroidered on the front. Lol. I wear it with pride. Uppa conscientious persisters!!
My main hope over the last near decade is to be rid of cancer. My expectations have been low, but I’ve never given up hope.
About a year ago I asked to see my most recent MRI scan images. Hubby and I wanted to compare what they looked like against what they’d looked like at the beginning. We both remember the original scans very clearly…….with the tumour so big it was almost half my head :( What we saw in the most recent images was much less remarkable. The only notable area was a black blob. I took this to be what was left of the tumour, but was never really truly sure. As is often the way in very serious situations, I was too dumbstruck to ask for further clarification. Although delighted to see how small it was compared to those first scans, I found that image of the black blob haunting my dreams. I took to calling it the black hole and have spent far too many hours wondering when it would start to get bigger?? We have been told from Day 1 that regrowth is inevitable.
Fast forward to a couple of nights ago…… I had a telephone Neurologist appointment. I seized the opportunity to ask about the ‘black hole’ and guess what he told us?? It is exactly that. A black hole. Not a tumour. It’s where the tumour was scooped out.
Yes, regrowth is inevitable……..but you know what I say to that?? Pppffffttttt and pah!! Damned lies and statistics say the median survival rate for patients with my diagnosis is 3 to 5 years. I will hit 10 years diagnosed in 5 months time, allegedly making me one of 24%.
No tumour. Currently no regrowth. No guarantees. Just a black hole, a revelation, and conscientious persistence
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