My execution date has been postponed!

I had a new CT scan yesterday, 14 May, 2007. The previous scan was on 27 February, 2007. That was the original scan that diagnosed my cancer. The oncologist said then that my kind of cancer only responds to chemo 50% of the time. Today he told me that I'm in the 50% that does respond. He showed me the two sets of CT scans and showed me what he was looking at and said they showed "quite significant improvement."

I'll take it. He also said I look better. I still have no symptoms except side effects from the chemo. The doctor isn't yet willing to say the cancer won't ultimately still be terminal, but my improvement was clearly on the high side, the "hoped for" side of what he would consider the normal, expected response to chemo. He agreed with me that we're just almost weekly seeing news reports of potentially major breakthroughs in cancer treatment that the researchers expect to have on the market within 1-3 years, so staying alive that long potentially dramatically increases my chances of a cure for what he initially declared flatly incurable.

In short, I am still having no trouble remembering to live each day as if it may be my last, but I am encouraged and thanking God for his healing at work in my life. And of course, I'm profoundly grateful for the love and concern of so many people for my well-being. Today's chemo has left me a little woozy and I really want to lay down for a little while, but I can't until I've written something here, on my blog and on the choosing2live website, because so many amazing, precious people are waiting anxiously for news, like Darius outside the lion's den.

Thank you for your love and prayers, and thank God for his love and power and grace.

Love,
Brad