Good NEWS!

Mom is clear of cancer (I can't say "cancer-free", b/c it's just too scary)! Mom is in GOOD health! Mom got her bile drainage bag out (thank heavens)! Mom's blood work and CT scan showed positive progress from her rather complicated surgery and normal levels of everything that must be normal! Mom's surgeon smiled from ear-to-ear (and he doesn't smile so easily)!

Mom herself was clearly smiling ear-to-ear herself when she told me, in the most relieved voice I've ever heard, "I'm walking out these revolving doors for the first time... happy!"

Obvs, we have to hold our breath again in six months, to be sure, but we'll take today's news and run for the hills. See ya!

Just kidding... all of you, each of you, is and has been so important to mom and our entire family during this seemingly never-ending travail through the cancer jungle. We can never thank everyone enough for being supportive and caring about mom, the most amazingly brave person I know. For, if she hadn't let those amazing surgeons argue over her treatment and do what they thought best, I fear we would not be sitting on today's pile of relief.

I regularly get "successful" patient video stories from the Mayo Clinic on Facebook. Because I'm a writer, I've been waiting for weeks to even hope that I might be able to help write mom's success story for America's finest healthcare system.

Stay posted. We still have the First Annual Du Good duathlon on October 3 in Ulysses to complete with success. Sign-up today if you haven't already. It's sure to be a day to remember for everyone involved.