There is the military victory of the Jewish Maccabees against the huge Greek army and a seemingly insignificant miracle of one small cruse of oil that lasted eight days.
We commemorate the miracle of the oil by lighting the menorah. True it was a miracle, but it was just an extension of nature, similar to your cell phone battery almost dying, but lasting until you find your charger.
Often we think of miracles necessarily being against nature, a small untrained army victorious over a huge military presence, but most miracles occur everyday.
They are an extension of what happens naturally, and are often taken for granted by us. We must work on recognizing the miracles around us and viewing then as a gift from God.
This week I have had my own Chanukah miracle.
On Wednesday, the first day of Chanukah, I had an appointment to get my latest test results.
As the previous scans in November by lungs and brains were totally free of any tumors, as were all my internal organs.
An additional test, called a blood biopsy was done. My lung cancer was not only present in the tumors but also in my blood, causing gene mutation that helped pinpoint treatments. In May of 2017 my blood contained three tumor friendly gene mutations; EGFR, MET-C, and TP53. After being on the newest clinical trial for six months, I have had a 100% response to the gene mutation. My newest test results show no cancer loving DNA mutation in my blood.
I might not have explained it correctly or clearly, but this is truly a Chanukah miracle, an extension of a natural occurrence. With the help of my oncologist, research team and all of your prayers and good wishes I have truly experienced my own Chanukah miracle.
I hope to continue with this clinical trial and hope to continue seeing miracles everyday.
OH MY GOSH GILA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You deserve to continue seeing many, many more nissim!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYour science-y cousin says:
ReplyDelete1) First, mazel tov - I am so happy to hear this!
2) Second the blood biopsy looks for cancer cells that have been shed by tumors in your blood. The cancer cells have mutations in certain genes that cause loss of growth control; EGFR, MET-C, and TP53 are three genes that often are the genes in which a mutation causes cancer. The chemo drugs you are getting target cells that have these mutations.
3) If I understand what you said, your blood biopsy looked for the shed tumor cells, which carry the signature mutations that the biopsy tests for, and didn't find any cancer cells in your blood, which likely means there are no actively dividing cancer cells present (or very very few), so the drug regimen is working.
4) This is very very good news, no matter how it works!
5) Miracle or modern science or both, I'm of course thrilled to hear this - HAPPY NEW YEAR!