I'm so excited....

First off, sorry for not updating lately.
After having Cyber Knife in October, I've been doing pretty good. I had some bad coughing and wheezing after the Cyber Knife. After being scanned in early December, it was obvious as to why I was wheezing and coughing so much. I had lots of scar tissue and major inflammation in the lungs from the Cyber Knife. I was put on Prednisone (steroids) for about 2 weeks and the coughing/weezing has gotten much better.

The last few weeks I've noticed a very heavy feeling in my chest. Had some shortness of breath and had some pain when taking a deep breath, etc.

I had scans this morning. After scans, I had my appointment with Dr. Tincher (radiation oncologist). She walked in and asked if I wanted to see the pictures from my scans. Of course I wanted to see them. She told me I had radiation pneumonitis (radiation pneumonia). That explains the heavy feeling in my chest. She's putting me back on steroids for 40 days. It's going to be a pretty high dose to start with and I will lower it every 10 days. She said the pneumonia in the lungs is proof the CyberKnife is working. :-)

So then she showed me the 3 lung nodules. There is no new growth and one nodule appeared to be a bit smaller. :-)

I asked what some of the organs were... She told me there was my heart, there was my spine, there was my liver and there was my esophagus. I know you are wondering....why is Kelly putting all this on here....you'll understand why very soon.

I asked Dr. Tincher to show me the mediastinal mass......
You know the one I'm talking about... The one that was found in February 2006. Had chemo then radiation in March 2007 because it had grown to a very dangerous size. Dr. Nguyen sent me immediately to the Radiation Oncologist to get the markers ready for radiation that I started the next day. Dr. Nguyen told me how dangerous this tumor was and the possibility of it protruding into my inferior vena cava could be detrimental. Very scary time of course. Radiation was successful. Even a year after treatment, I had 20% shrinkage which was wonderful. So I see new doctors in Birmingham in August 2009. Sent to a pulmonologist to explore the possibility of removing the mediastinal mass. Decided the surgery was too dangerous. The tumor remained stable, no new growth.

So, Dr. Tincher is showing me what these things are that I'm looking at on my scans. I then asked her where the tumor was. She paused... I said, "you know, the tumor between my esophagus and the inferior vena cava." She said, "there is nothing present there, everything is normal." I said, "no, the tumor I had radiation on." She said, "there is nothing present," as she enlarged the view on the screen. I said, "you mean, it's gone?" She said, "yes, it's not there." What a moment that was!

I then went to see Dr. Larson (medical oncologist). She of course got the news before I did. She was estatic. After she listened to my lungs, she said, "this mama is happy!"

Needless to say, today has been a wonderful day.

It seems I always reflect back on this journey right before scans, even more so than normal. I couldn't get to sleep last night, I guess I was a little anxious. This morning I was thinking of a few particular moments and I know more than ever God has put me exactly right where HE wants me. GOD placed me at UAB West where I saw Dr. Edge on July 8, 2004. GOD knew Dr. Bynon at UAB Hospital would be the one to do my surgery in August, 2004. GOD knew Rachel Rhodes was going to be searching for a little updated information on Fibrolamellar Hepatocellular Carcinoma on the internet several days after Sallie Lawrence posted a prayer request from her friend Kelly. GOD put me in Tallahassee, FL so I could be Dr. Nguyen's patient. HE knew I needed Dr. Nguyen and HE was right. GOD knew I would need the Helical Tomography that was in Tallahassee. At the time in 2007, there were only 8 of those machines in the world. It was no coincidence I was where I was. And what do you know.... I move back to Birmingham, Alabama in March 2009 and after scans in July, Dr. Amanze tells me I need Cyber Knife. Guess what opened in May 2009? CyberKnife of Birmingham at Brookwood Hospital, still no coincidence. GOD has been and IS in TOTAL CONTROL of this journey.

My cousin Mary said today that I was blessed. She is so right.

Thank you everyone for praying for me and for telling others to pray for me. The best gift you can give someone is to lift their name to our Awesome GOD!