third time's a charm (again)!

earlier this year, my older sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. she had already retired, purchased a house in Fiji, was in the process of selling her home here, and was ready to escape the madness of the valley.

everything changed pretty quickly.

because of the form and size of her cancer, she was able to have a minimally-invasive surgical procedure to remove the cancerous cells. unfortunately, one surgery in April turned into a second in July and a third last week. we thought it would never end and that she'd need to have a masectomy.

today, I accompanied her to her post-surgical consult. in the car, she told me she didn't know what she would do if the result wasn't good.

as we sat in the examination room at the Stanford Cancer Center, the tension grew.

then, we heard a quick knock at the door and her doctor entered the room. the look on his face was dire (or is that dour?). and then, within seconds, he gave her a thumbs up. I screamed "YES!" and then realized I might have misinterpreted his body language.

the silence in the room was again thick with tension. Susan didn't say anything. I quickly looked at the doc, looked at her, and then at the doc again. and then I mumbled something minimally cohesive to the effect of "was the surgery successful?"

YES! finally, they were able to get all of the cancerous cells! no more surgery!

but Fiji will wait until she can complete six weeks of radiation.

Fiji will always be there. now my sister will, too!