Answered Prayers

Now… On to a long, long, long overdue update on my cancer journey. The last time I wrote a post solely about my cancer, was this one. It’s from September 2019 😳. I just returned from Toronto after doing more genetic testing. Jeff and I travelled to Germany for scans shortly before that. Now that we did a quick recap, let’s get to the new updates.

September 2019 to September 2020

Another scan was scheduled for me here in Edmonton in October. I cancelled that one, since I was pregnant with our first angel baby. In my meeting with my oncologist in December, we talked about doing another one. By the time we were booking it, Luke was on the way. Since these scans include radioactive materials, they can’t happen while pregnant.

Throughout pregnancy, bloodwork was the only way to monitor my cancer. I think I mentioned that it showed improvements over time.  My white blood cell count as well as my cancer markers improved as pregnancy progressed. Since not many women are pregnant while also battling MTC, there isn’t much research around it either. No one really knows how and if pregnancy impacts Medullary Thyroid Cancer.

I met with my surgeon a couple weeks after my first few pregnancy ultrasounds. He is leading the charge for this ‘new’ scan in Edmonton. He decided I needed to call his office after giving birth to book a scan. Until then, not much could be done besides bloodwork. So, that is what we did. Bloodwork continued to improve and I felt amazing, mostly. I struggled with my mental health more than anything. Most of it related to being worried about Luke. Simply praying for a safe delivery.

Post giving Birth to Luke

After giving birth, I feel like I am at one of my happiest points in my life, overall. I am so incredibly grateful for it. Since I dealt with depression and anxiety in the past, its certainly something I worried about. Postpartum depression and postpartum anxiety is very common. I am very thankful I have been spared, so far. Praying it will stay this way.

Anxiety has been a constant companion however, since the beginning of December. I waited to repeat my bloodwork since Hormones take a while to return to a somewhat normal state after pregnancy. I finally made it to the hospital for blood draws. Only a hospital lab is able to run my cancer markers. Hence why it takes a little longer to get it done. Especially in the middle of a pandemic.

I get my results to my phone through an app. When the numbers came back, I sat on the couch stunned. Feeling paralyzed. My thyroid hormones were low. That’s not the biggest deal. A simple medication adjustment can fix that. My white blood cell count is back to below ‘recommended range’. Also not the worst, since this has been the case since my radiation. Even though it is low, I don’t get sick more often. No, the one that stunned me, were my cancer markers. Both were highly elevated. Higher than ever before. One doubled from August to December, which is very worrisome.

Welcome Anxiety Train

Just seeing the numbers on the screen was enough to put me into a tailspin. Asking questions like “Was I selfish for having Luke?” “Will I leave him motherless sooner than later?” “What does any of this mean?” “Did being pregnant put my cancer into hyperdrive?” “Is this the beginning of the end?” Valid questions, although maybe a little premature since, really, there was no telling of what it meant.

I couldn’t stop myself. The thoughts just kept running through my head. I had many a cries. At some point, I came to the conclusion that I didn’t want anxiety to win. I have a beautiful baby boy, an amazing husband, a great family, an awesome circle of friends. Life is good. Sure, there is this hiccup on the horizon. However, if my time truly is short, I want to make the most of it. Enjoy every second. Get all the possible cuddles. Make the most memories possible.

Taking next steps

I reached out to my doctors, finding out, my oncologist is no longer my oncologist. The Cross Cancer is restructuring and now moving all thyroid cancer patients into one team. To me, that makes a lot of sense since it would mean a more focused approach to my cancer. However, the timing was not ideal for my case. My appointment with my new oncologist wasn’t scheduled until the end of January. Since my surgeon said to call once I had Luke, that is what I did. His secretary got the ball rolling on getting the gallium scan we talked about. The machine to make the dye was broken at the time, which meant they had no idea when the scan could take place.

In January I finally found the right person to talk to. She informed me I needed a CT scan before getting the Gallium scan. It was a bit of a hassle to book the CT. With some help from others, one week later I went in for the CT. Another week after that, I finally went in to the Cross Cancer for the Gallium.

New oncologist

One day before the scan, Jeff and I met with my new oncologist. My anxiety was through the roof. A million questions running through my head. How much does he know about MTC? What is his approach to treatment? Will I have to fight him to get the right treatments?

Our meeting was a very pleasant surprise. He is very knowledgeable. More knowledgeable than any of my previous doctors. His approach is exactly what I was looking for. Plus, he agrees with me 🙌.

He agrees that waiting until the cancer has spread more and is actually impacting my life before starting any systemic treatment, sounds like the best choice. He brought up other treatment options as well. We will discuss those more if the need for them arises as time goes on.

Overall, Jeff and I walked out of the meeting feeling very reassured. We felt very confident in the collaboration with this doctor. As we were leaving, I asked his nurse if he had just come to Edmonton. Apparently, he has worked here for years already. I have to admit to feel disappointment. Disappointment that he wasn’t my doctor from the beginning.

Herr are some reasons why. I asked about getting genetic testing in Edmonton. My previous doctors said it would cost me $2500 out of pocket, which is why I travelled to Toronto to get this testing done. This new doctor asked about the testing immediately, saying it was very important. We could have saved ourselves a lot of trouble, had he been my doctor from the get go.

Test results

Just under a week after our meeting, he called me with the Gallium test results as well as bloodwork results. My cancer markers dropped again. Drastically. My Gallium scan looks very similar to the scan I had 1.5 years ago in Germany. No major growth!! No new cancer!! 🙌🙌🙌 Praise the Lord!

How do I even describe the feeling? I hung up the phone and did a happy dance. God has answered prayers. So many prayers. No new growth in almost 2 years is incredible in and of itself. However no growth after 2 years AND a pregnancy? That is simply mind blowing. The doctor disagreed at first that the increase in blood markers could be due to the pregnancy. However, after these results, he had to agree that it seems like the increase has to be pregnancy related.

Future planning

The plan for the next year will include more bloodwork in 3 months and another CT scan in 6 months. He wants to make sure that the numbers continue to trend down. He mentioned that often times a spike in bloodwork, will show tumor growth in 12-18 months. Hence the CT scan in the not so distant future. Basically we are back to wait and watch, which is the BEST NEWS EVER.

Thank you so much for your continued support. May it be through prayers, meals, text messages or just following along. Thank you!

We are now returning back to enjoying life. Loving on our little boy and living life.