The Difference A Year Makes

Wendy and I made the trip up to Lake Alamanor for the Fourth of July holiday weekend again this year to go camping with my family. Last year I had the unfortunate duty of informing my family that I had been diagnosed with cancer. After breaking the news last year I said that my goal was to get together again the next year for "Remission Party".

While I'll never get to have a remission party, we had the next best thing. I'm doing fabulously on Gleevec and my PCR results have come back twice in a row as "barely detectable". I'm not sure if this qualifies as PCRU (no detectable leukemia cells) but I'll take it. In addition to that I'm really enjoying my new job even though the demands are much higher than my previous position. I've finally beaten the remaining causes of my fatigue into submission and have almost as much energy as I did before I was diagnosed. I have a ways to go before I'm back in shape again, but I've got the energy to actually attempt getting into shape again.

Friday night we all gathered in the same campsite we had last year and sat around the exact same table where 365 days earlier I'd told them all I had cancer. This year I started out the conversation exactly the same:

"Anyone have any announcements they'd like to make?"

There were a couple of uncomfortable laughs and a couple jesting remarks about that "not being cool." But I was serious. I had news to share this year almost as momentus as the news last year. And given the news last year, perhaps more momentus.

Wendy is due December 31.

After 2 years of trying, cancer, 3 miscarriages and 4 months of being told we would not be able to have children in the "normal way" we're going to be parents. Wendy is 14 weeks pregnant as of July 4th and so far (knock on wood) the baby is growing, healthy, and progressing perfectly. We've had 5 ultrasounds, 3 dopplers and a CVS test in those 14 weeks. We're afraid to get too excited for fear of having this ripped out from under us again, but with every passing week and every visit where the heart is still beating we allow ourselves to get a little more excited.

Recently we've gotten a little giddy walking through the baby section at Target and shopping for maternity clothes to fit Wendy's burgeoning belly (she's actually starting to show a little bit!). We cherish every "morning sick" moment, every emotional outburst and every sleepy afternoon. We feel so fortunate to finally have a pregnancy that might make it.

So what difference does a year make? In our case, it's made all the difference. We can't wait till the next Fourth of July, where hopefully, we'll be celebrating with our first child.