I punched Mark (lovingly) in the arm and said "you see?" Miracles do happen and this type of tumour makes more sense to us as we moved to more of a plant based diet around 6 months ago and it seemed impossible that a tumour would form while eating and living such a healthy lifestyle.
But let me rewind a little... While waiting a gruelling hour in the waiting room to see the Oncologist, I saw one of the staff approach a lady who had been waiting a while. In the crowded waiting room she pulled up a chair and apologised to the lady as she would not be requiring their services! The lady looked puzzled and asked why. "Because you don't have cancer!" was the reply. I nearly fell off my chair. "Did you hear that?' I whispered. Mark looked up from his car magazine and grunted. "She just got told she doesn't have cancer, isn't that unreal?" He just shrugged his shoulders. So when the Oncologist told us the test results from the overseas lab I couldn't help but believe it was another one of those many "signs".
We left the centre quite elated and made our way into the city to pick up Sebastian from Childcare. I was pumped and suggested we head into the city and to take Sebastian to see Father Christmas. It's an excellent time of day (5pm) as there is generally no queue. I was right and we went straight in and Sebastian had his 5 minutes with Santa and we walked away with our 2012 Christmas Photos. Another job done...tick!
Still happy about the news I was itching to access Facebook to tell everyone the good news. The Tumour is grade 2..Hooray! Let's buy some wine and have a celebration. But my excitement was popped like a needle to a balloon when Mark told me, "well it doesn't change anything and I would rather not say anything to anyone". Later, with Sebastian in bed we discussed the situation and I guess he was right. The lab in Adelaide would have had all of the matter that had been removed and they would have tested several parts of this mass. The overseas lab would only have been sent a small amount of tissue to test the DNA and that part may well of been a grade 2, but there are still grade 3 (aggressive) parts and they have to give an overall grading of the worst parts and hence base a treatment plan on the higher graded tumour samples.
The following day our spirits were still damp like a wet fish, but Sebastian had begged me to go to the beach. The weather forecast was good and I knew that it would do us all good to have some fresh coastal air, even though I had woken with a mild migraine and Mark wasn't feeling much better. We packed up and left early and enjoyed a fabulous morning at the beach. Else was perfectly behaved and had the time of her life running and splashing in the water. Sebastian also had a wonderful time playing in the water, building sand castles and flying his kite. The weather was perfect, not to hot, not to cold. After two hours of perfectness, we decided it was time to pack up as it was getting time for Mark's juice and the sun was starting to get a little stronger. But when we told Sebastian it was time to leave he threw the biggest tantrum imaginable. He screamed like his limb had been broken and venomously screamed "No, I just want to play" at the top of his lungs. Hard to believe what this angelic child can turn into when things don't go the way he would like them too!
So with screaming banshee protesting several metres away, we packed up and bid him goodbye as we headed back to the car. Sebastian screamed and cried behind us, eventually calming down enough so that we could stop and have a rational conversation with him. But it was too late, the mood had slumped right back down again.
Sunday morning and it was time for the three hour Yoga and Mediation session that I had booked several weeks ago. Migraine in fine form, Mark quite flat and depressed, we dropped off Sebastian and headed to the venue. When we walked it we must of looked like we were carrying the world on our shoulders. I looked that bad I looked 10 years older, old enough in fact to be Mark's Mother, or so the Yoga teacher thought! We took our positions at the back of the room and started the session by just lying on our backs and being still with some rhythmic chanting music beating in the distance. It wasn't long before my emotions could not be held back anymore as this was the first time I had been "still" for quite a while. Tears flowed while the instructor gave visual directions and every time I thought I had myself under control, they flowed again.
But by the end of this part of the session, it seemed that it was all out and I was able to stand up and continue to the next phase of yoga poses. We might have been beginners, but we kept up with everyone in the class. A few hours in and we had to pair up and do some poses together, facing each other, feet touching. Mark's feet started to wriggle and when I looked up at his face, I saw a mischievous smile. I smiled back and I could see and feel that our black clouds had lifted. By the end of the three hours, the instructor talked to us and apologised for her mistake and told me that I "looked young now" and indeed I felt young again. We both felt young, fit and healthy again, how amazing! Just love Yoga when you can find the right instructor!
Monday...day one of thirty Radiotherapy treatments! The appointment at 11.30am, we had most of the morning at home with Sebastian before we needed to go. I'm not totally sure what Mark did that morning, but it was virtually zero. He hadn't been near his computer for days saying that he was "not in the mood for programming" or some such. On the way to the hospital I had some stern words for him and told him it was time to move his butt into gear and start writing some code and DOING SOMETHING! Yoga, meditation, breathing, exercise bike, exercise machine...anything, something!! And that afternoon.....HE DID!
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