Pray, pray, pray for my cousins.

Her cancer hasn’t grown recently. We’re VERY happy about that, needless to say! Yay! First good report in a long time!

Her largest growth was removed. Now…I’m afraid it is back to wait and see and prepare for the next stage of this fight. Still – it is good that they finally removed the growth! And she is doing well.

And now they are telling her that she needs to wait some more, that they don’t want to do anything prematurely(!) and that she’ll be better prepared for the treatment in a month or two.

All I can say is that she’s pretty frustrated right now. She’s a fighter and sitting back and waiting isn’t sitting well with her.

However, she is seeing doctors at both Johns Hopkins and the National Cancer Institute – these aren’t exactly quacks, no matter how little we understand of why they are telling her this.

So, I pray. She prays. Our family en mass prays.

Isn’t cancer.

However, the prevailing opinion, as of now, is that she needs to sit back and get sicker so that she qualifies for a study. Sigh.

Now, this isn’t sitting well with her. Basically, they say her growths aren’t BIG enough to qualify. They say she needs to let them get bigger. So…she’s going to take Thanksgiving to think about it and talk about her options with the family, and then talk to her doctor.

So…we’re relieved the spot isn’t cancer on the brain, but…

Now what? Sigh. I swear it is hurry up and wait, hurry up and wait.

I’m praying; she’s a strong, determined woman – a fighter. I love her and respect her.

My cousin that I’ve been worrying about and praying about? Well, they’ve found a spot on her brain. They are trying to determine what it is; until they figure it out, she can’t do much.

In addition, her doctor found new growths in her skin – so it isn’t controlled as she was told before by the other institute she’s been seen at.

Here we sit waiting, waiting, waiting for answers and waiting for her to be able to move forward with treatment.

^{But I’m afraid it looks pretty grim.}

I know that it isn’t surprising. After all, she was diagnosed with fourth stage melanoma; there is NO fifth stage.

Still.

All I know right now is that the news isn’t good. Nobody in the family was up to sharing the details tonight, but the news isn’t good. Her sister said she was in tears from the time she heard.

I love my cousin and this just hurts. Whatever issues I have in my life, I’ll get through – they will pass. For her, for her 3-year-old, for her husband, for her father…sigh.

My cousin said it appears that her cancer has stabilized; there is NO new growth. She goes back to see her regular oncologist next week, but it is good news.

Is having a tough time right now. I know it isn’t surprising, given what her body is going through between the chemo and the disease – but it’s hard. I’m praying for her; she’s been fighting so very hard.

Continues to do well. She’s tired, run down a bit lately, but she’s very active, so that’s no surprise. I admire her so very much. I’m trying my best to let her know that as often as possible.

Is doing fairly well. She’s undergoing a newish form of chemo. So far, the effects have not been as terrible as expected. She’s felt run down, she’s had days that weren’t good (nausea, etc.) but for the most part, she’s been able to just go on with things. Really, I don’t know how she does it – she’s got a four-year-old, a husband, a home to take care of, and other obligations. She just keeps going and going and going…I admire her tremendously and I’m doing my best to show her that and tell her that as often as I can.