No really?

Yesterday I heard a word that I thought perhaps I'd never hear. A word that I've been desperate to hear since the 24th September, and one that is loaded with significance for cancer suffers and their loved ones. Yesterday, as I met the consultant in the kitchen of Ward 27, he almost casually through the word into the conversation as if it had little significance or importance. As has often happened with certain moments in these events, sometimes a word blurs out all others around it. After previous such moments with words such as Leukaemia, Intensive Care, Cancer, Chemotherapy, Seizure, this word elicited a similar reaction, but this time, for the first time, the word was a positive one. Remission. Yes, I'll say it again. Remission. He said Vicki is in remission. This is absolutely incredible. Only a few weeks ago she had been treading a very delicate path between life and death, so this news was bordering on the miraculous.

Lets not get too carried away though. As cancer suffer will tell you, remission is not game over for the cancer, and in Vicki's case, it's not game over for the treatment either. Remission means that you no longer have the cancer, but you are not clear of the disease. Remission means that your treatment must continue to prevent the cancer returning. There are patients who have been in remission for extended periods only for the cancer to return. So I don't want you to think the journey is over, it's is far from over. Vicki's chemotherapy will continue unabated for the coming months, and sadly this means that she will continue to suffer the side effects. However the chemotherapy will be delivered in shorter bursts now. Her initial 14 day chemotherapy was followed by an 8 day treatment from which she has just finished. She's still in the hospital, and now we're waiting for news on her blood counts and when she can come home for a short while again.

This is a step along the way, but a very important and significant one none-the-less. Please continue to give Vicki your support and love, we're not through this just yet.