Happy Mother's Day

What a long, tiring and absolutely wonderful day Shea and I had today. We were up bright and early to head to the Huntsman. It was funny, but right when I woke up, I had an excited and happy feeling flowing all around and through me. I was trying to talk myself into not getting my hopes up too high, because I didn't want any more bad news to ruin the day. We had Shea's lab work drawn and all went well there. Then she was weighed and she is holding steady at 110 lbs...go Shea!We then had a visit with Shea's team of Doctors. They told us that Shea was good to go for chemo. What was even more exciting was the fact that all of her blood work looked much, much better than it had....even before the first round of chemo. Her oncologist said that it looked pretty much normal, so we aren't anticipating needed any more home infusions in the near future. When we went back to the infusion room, one of our favorite couples was there Remember the sweet lady who had the allergic reaction to chemo a couple of weeks ago? Well, she and her husband were back, ready to give it another try. She said that she had stayed up all night worrying about having to give chemo another try. Shea and I were so nervous as we watched her try yet another medicine. It was successful! The four of us laughed and almost cried when we celebrated the fact that she would be able to receive treatment. It was so sweet to watch her husband hold her hand and tell her over and over how much he loved her. I was thinking about how lucky and blessed Shea and I were to have so many great things happen at the Huntsman, when one of Shea's doctors called my cell phone. She very excitedly told me the very best news of the day..Shea's CEA levels had decreased. CEA stands for carcinoembryonic antigens and it is a protein marker in your blood that can tell the doctors about the progression of the colon cancer, but it mostly tells the doctors if chemo is working and if it is a viable option for treatment. Before chemo, Shea's level on April 2, was 306.4. Today it was 108.7. The doctors and infusion room nurses can not believe that it had dropped that far that quickly. Everyone is amazed, and I am almost giddy with the knowledge that this is the first indication that we have been given that lets us know that Shea has a real fighting chance. ALL of YOUR PRAYERS are WORKING!!! Thank you so much...I have always said that I can feel your prayers surrounding me like a nice, warm fuzzy cocoon....but now I know just how amazingly powerful they are. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and remarkable friends old and new. Each of you are a blessing in our lives. I feel like I have been given such a beautiful gift by Heavenly Father....and it is noted that it was right in time for Mother's Day...what more could a Mom truly ask for? Happy Mother's Day to all in advance...I think I'm going to take a couple day's break to just wallow in the first good news that has come our way since the journey began. We feel like for now, we are holding tight to the Lord's hand and our heads are finally way above the water line....and it feels good.