The Language

There is a certain "language" that comes with every type of industry, profession, hobby, etc.
We who show our dogs have our own language. The word bitch has an entirely different meaning. My young daughter was horrified to find out that while we had always been referring to female dogs, her friend had considered it a BAD word. We speak about confimation, points,
winners, reserves and many other things that "outsiders" cannot understand.

The same goes for my profession. The lumber industry is filled with its own language. I talk in terms of board feet, pulled-to-length, and #2 or C & better grades. It is a language that is learned with time and training and experience.

The world of cancer treatment also has its own language. Through time and experience, I have come to know words and phrases that demand explanation to someone who has not been a part of the world. Some terms and words are easier to figure out than others. Words and acronyms like blood-count, intraveneous, stage, scan, CT, PET, side-effects. There are new words like nadirs, neutrophils, aromatose-inhibitor,....and phrases like protein-excreting, estrogen-positive and metatstatic disease.

Then there are the "catch" phrases like:
This is just a bump in the road of your life.
Cancer can be a gift.
You'll feel a lot worse before we can make you better.
It's only hair. It will grow back.
You're going to feel a little "pinch" here.


And as the news goes from bad to worse:
We'll address that issue when we need to.
There is no cure now, only treatment of a chronic disease.
We need to get some staging scans to see where we are.
Your disease has progressed.
I don't expect to hit any home runs with this treatment
This will probably be effective for about 3-6 months.
That's just what cancer cells do...they figure out how to get around the chemo treatment
You know, it never really goes away.

Through time and experience, I find myself speaking with the language of cancer treatment with relative ease and frequency. I am bi-lingual. I have, for the last four years since recurrence, been constantly speaking about my tumor marker. My close friends and family know what that phrase is all about. There are only a few people who really understand its significance. Tumor marker up = bad. Tumor marker down = good. My tumor marker, or measure of the protein that cancer cells are excreting in my bloodstream, has always been a reliable indicator to what is going on in my body. You have read earlier blogs about this number. In November the number was frighteningly high......ominously high.

Now I have just received news on Friday that my marker is 126. A number I haven't seen since September of 2005...2 years and five months ago. My language has suddenly begun to change.

I am now thinking of going to Texas in July. I have a puppy I need to show for someone this coming fall. The tumor marker of 126 gives me a new language about the future. The language of hope, blessings and miracles is being learned and the people who surround me are becomng fluent in it. While it has been said that we have no home runs to hit, here I am, standing on third base with home plate only 90 feet away. The stands are full, the crowd is cheering, God is smiling, and my medical team is at bat. The great game continues.

So if you're finding yourself having to learn the new language of cancer treatment, my advice to you is to learn it well, but also to make up your own. Use the language of hope, the language of determination and perseverence. Oh, and don't forget that age old language...the most powerful
Words of all. There in the Bible you will find all the words and phrases you could ever possibly need to know.

"For God's words are life unto those that find them and health to all their flesh." Proverbs 4:22