Great News!

This is something I haven't even really touched on in the blogging world yet, mostly because I wanted to see how things were going, get some solid 'facts' and then share with the world.

Somewhere around the beginning of September, my grandfather was diagnosed with lung cancer. Now, things were in a bit of chaos at first - no one knew how far it was, what his chances were, what type of treatment to use, etc. After getting a handle on things, the doctors started him on chemo and got his pain managed so that he could go home.

My grandfather is one of the sweetest, most lovable people you could ever meet. So, to think that the first 'important' loss of my life would be him, is a bit heavy. There was talk of him not making it through the holidays, which again is a heavy blow... they're so close and he's always been a big part of them.

Needless to say, Jude and I have been spending a good bit of time over my grandparent's house. After Jude was born, I just kept hearing how excited my poppop gets when he finds out we're visiting, so knowing that it made him happy, I figured, I'd do my part to help out. Plus, I just love visiting with them. He and Jude watch "The Price is Right" together and I hear jokes about how he loves the colors and he's amazed by the TV, because I don't let him watch it. They fussd over him and it's adorable.

Through everything he has been such a trooper. He has kept a pretty positive spirit and is not giving up on his fight. All of his confidence and positive attitude seem to be paying off. At the end of last week, we got some pretty good news.

To the best of my knowledge (and this is coming down a long line of communication), he is doing super! To this point he has had 3 treatments of chemo. Around the time of the third treatment he had a CT scan to see what was going on (whether treatments were working, etc) and the doctor told him they were! I'm not oncologist, but apparently he was at a "4.8" on the 'cancer scale' and is now down to a "3". These numbers really mean nothing to me, but apparently it's great. They're throwing around words like he's in "remission" and that his previously affected lymph nodes are cleaning up. They haven't stopped the treatments yet, but I'm assuming if he keeps clearing up, they will.

For obvious reasons this holiday season will without a doubt be extra special.