Good news to share!

I've had lots of symptoms of brain mets for some weeks now and had an MRI of the brain in Friday, as well as a stress/echo test--one test in morning and one in afternoon. I haven't yet gotten official results from cardiologist yet, but doctor who ran the test said my EF looked good, they couldn't find the mitral valve prolapse which I was told I had a year ago (so that's good), my very small pericardial effusion (probably caused by herceptin) is very very small (so that's even better), and no apparent blockages.

Oncologist just called to say MRI is clean, except for some small vessel damage (which is from aging). My dizziness, I think, was from my BP going down, so I cut my dosage in half and am doing fine. Nausea, I think, is because my reflux disease is getting worse. But hooray, hooray, it wasn't brain mets.

And then, on Friday, we offered for a house in Maine (our alternate house) as the one we really wanted was stuck in legal issues. Then, just as I got off the telephone with realtor for alternate house, I received an email from realtor for preferred house that it's available and we can close asap. People in Maine are so nice (I'm remembering Sandy too). The second realtor was so understanding when I had to withdraw offer. I think I'll like it there very much.

So it's been a good day all around. I am also finished herceptin on August 9, so we can move to Maine (some ten hours from our place in New York) without having to travel back and forth. My husband Miguel is the most positive person in the world, and I'm such a cynic, but he kept telling me it would be ok, and (this is for you, Andi), I intend to take the positive road from now on. No more cynicism from me (well perhaps I'll give myself one day a month where I can be as cynical as I want).

Thank you all for listening. You are the only group of people who can possible share the sense of relief I had with that phone call. I know how good it makes me feel when I read one of your posts that a test has come back negative, and how much pain I feel when it's been positive.

I was watching "Hannah and Her Sisters" recently by Woody Allen, and the protagonist, who is thinking of suicide, goes to see a Marx Brothers movie and decides that whatever life has to offer (whether an afterlife or not) that the act of living itself is wonderful. And, of course, at the end, he gets the girl and all is well. And it's very very true.