It was a good day, a very good day, indeed.

So today was another big day. We had two doctor appointments. One with the surgeon and another with the oncologist. I was a little nervous, but Jim and I talked about it last night and we decided that no matter what we were told, we were going to make the best of it and it was going to be OK. The appointment with the surgeon was really good. Jim is healing well, gets tired quickly, can't eat quite as much as he would like yet, still sore, but all normal for what he's been through, and within weeks, he should be feeling more and more like himself. The doctor was pleased with his progress, and so are we. Oh and that scar is looking really good, too! So, now onto the oncologist appointment..... what Dr. Gouw said is that Jim has a 20% chance that this could come back. I have to say that was good news to us, because after we got the high risk mitotic rate back we thought the chances of recurrence were going to be much higher. It is very confusing, so bear with me, but this is how they figure it out: 1. size of tumor (Jim's was just under 5 cm) 2. location of tumor (Jim's in stomach) 3. metastasis (none) 4. mitotic rate/how fast cells divide in tumor (Jim's high) So based on this equation they came up with the 20% chance of recurrence. There is a drug that is called Gleevec that he has to take to keep that from happening. He may have to take it the rest of his life, we don't know yet. Sometimes the body forms a resistance to it at some point, but every case is different. There are some side effects, but we are hoping he will not get any of those. He will start on it tomorrow. (Fingers crossed.) He has to have tests every few months to make sure it is not coming back, and that he is remaining stable. It's kind of a wait and see thing at this point. Speaking of Gleevec, this drug costs a lot of money, it can be hundreds of dollars for a one month supply. Most of the time insurance companies won't pay and if they do, there is a lot of red tape and pre-authorizations and hefty co-pays. We totally expected all this, so when we went to the pharmacy, we were expecting the worst, but praise God, they were able to fill it today for $35.00! I couldn't believe it! I made the pharmacist repeat it to me, it didn't register the first time. Holy Cow, what a blessing! God is good! Today could have been much worse, this whole experience could have been worse. Jim is going to live with cancer.....LIVE being the key word. Every day is a blessing! I hope with all my heart that Jim never, ever gets a tumor again. I must say that Jim has had and continues to have a positive attitude. It truly inspires me! That positive attitude just might keep it from ever coming back. Thank you all for your kind words, love, support, prayers, etc, etc. There have really been some dark moments for us the past couple of months, and we couldn't have gotten through them without all of you and without God's love. We are truly humbled and grateful beyond words. We have learned so much about kindness. We will be passing these blessings on to others. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts!