We are approaching the second anniversary of Mom completing her chemo treatments, and I could not be more proud of her.
“You have cancer” are words no one ever wants to hear. But when you’re approaching 80 years old and lost your husband of nearly 50 years four months earlier, it is an especially bitter pill to swallow.
When we learned of her colon cancer diagnosis after her colonoscopy in October 2022, I saw Mom’s eyes well up with tears. I committed myself at that point to being her eyes and ears because I knew all she was thinking at the moment was, “Am I going to make it?”
Though it was a scary time, we were incredibly blessed to begin her journey of fighting cancer with a wonderful medical team, from her gastroenterologist to her surgical oncologist and then her medical oncologist.
When you’re going through something like that, whether you’re the patient or a family member, it is critical to have confidence in the people who are providing treatment.
Each step of the way, everyone involved was very thorough while explaining the next steps. After the surgery to remove her tumor, which took place not even a month after her diagnosis, we were informed three of the lymph nodes that were removed nearby were cancerous and that because of that, chemotherapy was recommended.
Though that obviously was concerning to us, we were encouraged when her medical oncologist told us they believed her cancer was still at the curable stage and the chances were better if she opted to go through with chemo.
Not long after that, we met with her medical oncologist. A month after that, she sat down for the first of six treatments, spaced out every other week, where she would go to the treatment center for several hours and then go home with a little machine that looked like a Sony Walkman cassette player that dispensed more of the medication for 46 hours.
As chemo often is on cancer patients, it was tough on Mom, and there were times I wondered if she’d tell the doctor she couldn’t do it anymore. But Mom is such a fighter, and she soldiered through even as the Oxaliplatin part of her treatment gave her neuropathy issues in her feet and hands, issues that have mostly gone away two years later, thank God.
We’ve been blessed beyond measure at every post-chemo follow-up visit so far, where lab work has been performed. The two CT scans she’s had since she completed chemo have shown no new developments as well, another good sign.
Her most recent colonoscopy, which was a little over a year ago, also showed good results.
Her most recent lab work appointment, which was earlier this month, showed the all-important CEA (carcinoembryonic antigen) number was low, which we were relieved to see. As her oncologist has told her, it’s not a perfect test, but the numbers continue to support the doctor’s belief that she remains in remission.
In July, Mom goes for her third post-chemo CT scan, and needless to say, we’re praying for more encouraging news on that front and that there will be nothing in the results that will be cause for concern.
In the meantime, she occasionally looks at some of the pictures and watches the video we took of her when she proudly rang the bell two years ago and smiles.
That said, we know that though it was the completion of one of the most important parts of the cancer battle, we must remain vigilant because the battle is never truly over.
Mom is still doing well despite all she’s gone through, and her faith and spirit remain strong.
Thank you, Jesus, for all your many blessings, and we pray for many more.
North Carolina native Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym Sister Toldjah and is a media analyst and regular contributor to RedState and Legal Insurrection.
