Man is a knot into which relationships are tied. ~Antoine de St. Exupéry

I don’t know about others, but when I feel as though my end may be near, it’s to my loved ones that my thoughts go. Thus my selection for last night’s Wordless Wednesday photos and these pics today. This is my daughter who was nine years in coming into our marriage and who has been a blessing and a constant joy ever since. She is the knot that ties all my relationships together.

Today was the first time I’d seen my oncologist since before my radiation treatments began in July. To prepare for that appointment today, a Cat-Scan was done last Friday to check on the progress of a new lung nodule discovered on an x-ray in April when they did the lumpectomy. Some nodules had already been found six years ago when I had my stroke, but they ruled them as benign at the time. However, because the new one was somewhat larger than those earlier ones. they did a Pet-Scan on my chest in early May. The result came back with a metastatic concern note on it because of the malignant tumor that had been removed from my breast and the fact that I am HER2 positive. At that time the surgeon seemed to think that a biopsy should be done right away, but the oncologist over ruled that recommendation because a biopsy could pop (collapse) my lung and the protocol was just that the nodule needed to be observed. So all summer long I’ve waited for today’s appointment to find out whether this new nodule is of concern or not. The new Cat -Scan from Friday showed that it and a few of the older ones had grown a little but the growth is under 25% so the protocol is still that they just need to be watched which means I don’t have to go back for 6 months when another Cat-Scan will be done. Whatever they are, according to the oncologist, they are very slow growing at this point and may never amount to anything, but if the growth rate does ever exceed 25% then a biopsy would be the only way to find out for sure if the nodules are malignant. Although I wish that they could have definitively been ruled out as non-malignant now, I am at least relieved that I have a 6 month reprieve from more tests, more treatments, and more new meds. Since I am SLOWLY but surely recovering from the horrible affects of the radiation, maybe by then I won’t be so fragile (the word the oncologist used to describe me today) and the things will not grown any more. I pray it be so in Jesus’ name! Amen! Thanks for all your kind concerns and prayers. The Lord hears every one of them, and He is still and forever will be a constant and abiding Presence in my life. Love, Natalie

If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. ~Romans 14:8  ✝