Hi all! Mark and I received some wonderful news today. The results of my CT scan came back and the area that previously lit up on the PET scan near the right fork of my trachea is stable “if not a little less full”. The reason that is great news is because my doctors think that if that spot was cancer, it would be changing on the CT scans. So, stable is GOOD! We still have no clue what in the world it is (maybe scar tissue from my chemo port…but that’s really a guess). I personally don’t care what it is, as long as it isn’t the C word! Whew. Praise. The. Lord. My oncologist wants to repeat the same scan in 3 months just to keep an eye on it.

I also had a bone scan on Wednesday. Fun fact, I heard some noise while I was on the table getting my bone scan and found out that the Blue Angels were casually flying over during my scan (Mark walked outside and watched it happen). Perfect. They must have heard I was coming. I like to keep things low key. 😉

For the bone scan they give me an injection first, followed by a 2-3 hour hydration period, then I’m on the table about an hour for the bone scan….so it isn’t a speedy process. Anyway, regarding the bone scan, a new “spot” showed up on this scan that wasn’t on my last bone scan. The “spot” is on my second rib on the left side (when I heard that my heart SANK since the cancer originated on my left side). But, after reading the radiologists report and talking with my oncologist, they are confident that the new spot is a healing fracture. Excuse me? How in the world did I fracture a rib since my last bone scan? Well, chemo is rough on your bones/body AND I did have the first rib on my left side removed in 2015. Why you ask? Wellllll my arm started swelling for no reason and the doctors realized that my first rib had clamped down on an important vein. Apparently there’s a name for that….a rare condition called “thoracic outlet syndrome”. Baseball pitchers will get it sometimes……and me I suppose? So, who knows- maybe something happened during that 2015 surgery to the second rib (right next to the one that had to be removed) and maybe I re-injured it? Mark’s response to the fracture was “man, my boo is all busted up”😂 Truth.

The main thing: the bone scan was CLEAR! (No new active cancer!) Answered prayers my friends! My sternum did show an area of healed metastasis (like the last bone scan) but we expected that. My oncologist wants me to have another bone scan in 6 months.

Suffice it to say, I. Am. So. Relieved. If you google the statistics (I don’t…because I’m not a statistic) but, I’ve been told that the risk of reoccurrence for Stage IV TNBC is high during the first 3 years after diagnosis. So, before every scan my life feels like it is hanging in the balance (as much as I try to block out those feelings). Right after Mark and I found out the good news about this set of scans, I cried with relief….then we held hands, prayed, and gave God the glory for this amazing gift. How lucky am I to be here?

I sincerely wish I could personally reach out to every single person who texted or called me as soon as I find out my scan results. But, I would be on my phone for hours….and I want to take some time to enjoy this victory🤍 So, I hope this blog will suffice for now😘 But- I will get back to everyone soon and I LOVE getting the messages and I read all of them!

THANK YOU to everyone who checked on me and prayed for me leading up to these scans. As you know, waiting for these kind of results can be difficult and I’m so grateful that I have so many people in my corner.

In other news, LONG scan days are perfect opportunities to make silly videos. In the video below, Mark is saving me from “the Rona” one elevator at a time.

The next video is Mark keeping his promise to learn a “victory dance” with me. This is love right here people😁 One liberating aspect of this diagnosis? I have officially run out of sh*ts to give in regards to judgement from others. Silver lining. 😉

I can’t take credit for the song choice. My amazing friends Meg and Eric made the video (below) for me right before my scans to cheer me up AND….they wore my unicorn shirts. It’s the little things☺️🦄💜 I think I’ve watched their video about 100 times.

Here are of some of the pics from the last few days. I love how the unicorn shirts have become a tradition before my scans🦄💜🦄

This process is scary and stressful….but I can’t say it enough….I feel lucky that I get to experience so much love from so many amazing people. This is another win! Now, it’s time to celebrate. Cheers to TWO years!

-xo-

⭐️Holly Hollis Stars⭐️