Good News!

The experts at Dana Farber have completed their review of Kelly's slides, reports and films. Their opinion is that the area of concern noted in the July MRI is not cancer cells, but rather tissue damage caused by the radiation. Considering that, they have placed Kelly under close watch and wait status and will perform another MRI in 4 months. That time frame will allow Kelly's body more time to heal from the radiation. For now, a mastectomy is not necessary. That is pretty big news, and certainly a relief to everyone!

We are all cautiously optimistic that the initial two lumpectomies, subsequent radiation and treatment with Tamoxifen may have done the trick. But we are wise enough to defer to those experts who say that they must closely monitor Kelly and can't pronounce her out of the woods just yet. We are in total agreement that it is best to gather more data points before taking irreversible surgical action. The doctors feel that watching and waiting will not put Kelly at any further risk, for now.

There have been many, many people praying for Kelly, and we thank you for those prayers. They certainly seem to be working. Please don't let up now - she still has a ways to go.

I just spoke with Kelly and Eric. We all agree that this has been an emotional day, one that has all of us drained. I wish I had the energy to call each and every one of you to share this good news personally. For now, this is the most that I can do, so please don't feel offended that I didn't call.

Once again, I encourage you to follow the link to Kelly's Journal found at the top left of this page. I expect she will be ready to post there again in the next day or two.

Thanks so much for caring.