Tiki Power

I don't know if it was the honey in the heart, or the holding in the light, or getting medieval, or the 4 steps fury, or the wheelsqueaking, or all the support and advice or the just plain showing up because it's all you can think to do. Maybe it was the Tiki Power...

Any of those could be responsible for the great news we have today. But I think a lot of the credit has to go to the chemo. But I'm getting ahead of myself - I'm burying the lede.

Here's the email I got from C this morning, after his post-MRI meet-up with Dr. C:

"Nurse says "very impressive results" !!! Chow says he's shown this to Pezner and the surgical team and the opinion is no surgery needed!!! Tumor almost gone - see left side of pic attached. No irinotecan, VAC friday morning. Start radiation w/irino in a few weeks..."

I teared up. I couldn't believe it. This is huge news. No surgery. Beyond anything any of us even considered as a possibility. A massive gift. Here are the images from the MRI. The one on the right is from before chemo started, the one on the left is from yesterday.



Look at the image on the right. You see the two eyes. Between them you see the big, gray mass. That is a sinus-filling rhabdomyosarcoma tumor. Now look in the same spot in the image on the left. That is pure joy.

This is a moment to take in, to appreciate, to revel in. To whatever degree you have felt concern for C's situation, you can now enjoy the surging euphoria of a blast of unexpected great news. We are all so happy.

I'll save the "this fight is not over" talk for another time. We know that. But today is a great day. A day to enjoy. Tomorrow instead of another round of irinotecan (The Beast) he'll instead get another round of VAC (vincristine, dactomycin & cyclophosphamide) which is itself horrid. But he'll head into that with a great sense of purpose. These miracle drugs are working. The suffering is worth it. He's ready to fight. As a friend said once in reference to the persistence required in a nasty legal case, "You just need to keep your foot on their neck 'til they stop kicking." That's what we'll do.


Today is a good day to post a few recent tags. Tags from friends and supporters out there in the world, living life, reminders of all the exploration and adventure that C can get back to when this battle is won. We know it can happen. Here's one from Lukas on the road in his Rover:



Here's one from Mark overseas:

And here's Kenzie and Mom in Rossmoor:

Thanks to everyone for your support. We're filled with joy. Filled with gratitude. Filled with hope. C can ride this gift for a good, long while. We'll keep our foot on this thing's neck 'til it stops kicking.

We're feeling the power. Tiki Power!