Long Overdue Update

First, I will apologize to all of the readers of this blog. We are so grateful for your love and support. We decided to make the blog private after hearing advice to protect private information. Also, as I will explain later, James is gone most of the time and I didn't want that information available to just anyone. Anyway, thank you again and please continue to follow our blog for updates regarding our fight against cancer.
James had another PET scan in March. The results continue to be inconclusive. The SUV value was measured at 3.8. Two different radiologists read the scan last time and did not agree on the final SUV reading. The second radiologist wasn't available to weigh-in on the issue, so one radiologist read the scan two times and adjusted the SUV value the second read to be 3.3. Long story, the SUV should be at or near zero, but it is not. The tumor is still shrinking (which is GREAT news), so the doctors are leaning towards believing that it is not active cancer. As they say, "cancer doesn't get smaller." So, the waiting continues. James will get another scan in June. As it stands now, he will only have CT scans going forward, which will not measure the SUV value, but rather only the size of the tumor, since the SUV doesn't appear to be helping the doctors at this point. The CT scan has the benefit of being able to detect smaller tumors (should the cancer come back in a new place) than the PET scan and will be useful to continue to measure the size of the residual tumor. Also, it gives James a little less radiation exposure each time. The doctors told us that it could be a year before someone will say that James' cancer is in remission. I think we both were under the impression that a person gets diagnosed with cancer then goes through treatment and then is told they are cured, but at least for James, the last part is a ways out. We are staying very hopeful and prayerful. Most importantly, James feels good and that alone is priceless!!! Not to mention, his hair is getting more red every day, which he might argue is the most important thing.
Because we just can't have any dull moments around here, James job has changed as of March too. He is still employed with the same large accounting firm, but his department no longer exists in Salt Lake City. He has chosen to travel, for now, to stay employed, but it means that he is gone Sunday night through Friday night. Oh, how we miss him! I think his cancer took away a lot of security and now that he is traveling to keep his job and good benefits, we just can't get enough of him. We are going on 3 months of him being gone. We are not sure when he'll be coming home, but we are hopeful something more permanent will work out soon. I still work quite a few Saturdays a month, so needless to say it is a hard time right now. I told James I feel like life is one big gratitude lesson. Right now, I am just grateful that James feels good and so we will take him having to travel. Actually, I'm not sure Adalyn would agree, she desperately misses her Dad.
I'm still not in a position to say that we are grateful for the last year of trials, but I think that we are seeing blessings in a lot of places. We certainly take less for granted and love the time we have together!