It's not genetic!

Finally - a spot of good news. Jim met with the Genetic Counselor a couple of months ago. We decided to have a couple of tests done to determine whether or not his cancer is genetic. Turns out, it's not! Hooray!

Obviously, this is great news for our kids. The first test came back with 90% certainty that it's not genetic. We are now sending Jim's biopsy samples to Mayo for the second test. That second test will fill in the other 10%. I know 90% is awfully good, but I thought it would be better to be safe than sorry. We are also planning to sign Jim up for a program where they store his DNA so that in the future, if they have more advanced genetic testing, or the kids need a frame of reference, or...whatever. Sort of like storing a baby's cord blood. Speaking of babies, Jake got his first haircut this weekend. It did not go well. But, he looks adorable!

This is also good news for Jim. Although it doesn't provide us with any answers, it does give us a little peace of mind in that once Jim beats this cancer...that's it. There's no guarantee that he'll never get cancer again, but if the cancer was genetic, then there's a 50% likelihood that he'd get cancer again in his lifetime. So that's one less thing we have to worry about! Let's get through this cancer and then we can worry about anything else that springs up later.

The stinky thing is that Jim just got stuck with the short straw on this one. It would have been nice to know he had the short straw before it got to be so advanced. But, if this is our straw, then we'll see it through and play.

My friend Amy and I talked about this the other night. This is not the natural course of things. I have to believe that things went seriously out of whack, but that they can be realigned. It just doesn't seem like we're destined to do anything but win. Anything else is unthinkable. And truthfully, when we do think about not winning, we get terrified and give ourselves a mental slap on the wrist. It's totally natural to have fears and wonder what will happen, but I believe that spending more time focused on meditation, prayer, and healing and less time focused on worrying is the thing for us to do.

We have faith. We're praying for divine intervention here, and I believe that he will get it. It just doesn't seem like anything else would happen for Jim, does it? I don't know why some people are healed and others aren't, but I do know that Jim has to be one of the healed. When I get nervous I try to visualize God laying a big, glowing, light blanket of healing over Jim. It sort of shines white light. I like to believe that as we learn to accept his healing, we'll start getting more and more positive news. I'll hear Lola. And Jim will get his pot rack.