An Easter Miracle

We feel as if we have truly had our own Easter miracle in the Anello family this week.

We thought the results on Tuesday would be giving us more of an idea of how much time we had left together, to see how much the cancer had grown and where we would go from here.

We received news that completely amazed all of us.

The doctors have no explanation. 

Simply a miracle. 

Straight from the report:

The spot on his liver has "markedly improved and is barely visible on the current exam... and no other lesions are found" The word 'significantly' was also used in the report about the improvement. His blood work was all normal and doctors said everything looks normal and great!! The radiologist said he can see where the spot used to be, but as far as he's concerned, there is nothing there.

Now, the time we have left together is indefinite. 

There are simply no words, just more tears... tears of happiness. We're still dumbfounded, humbled, grateful, speechless, and most of all, just thankful beyond words. It was nothing we expected but everything we wished, hoped and prayed for. The doctor said it is the best news he could give, and it is most certainly the best news we could have ever received. We pray the scans in 3 more months are just as amazing!

Had my dad not had the surgery last May, doctors said he would have only lived about six months.

I know I haven't be too specific about the prognosis in January, I did that on purpose because we were trying really hard not to focus on the time we had left.  Truth is, we were told by the doctors in January that he had "months to a year" to live. To live, and that's what we had decided to do.

This is a very fast-growing, aggressive cancer. Much like pancreatic cancer, it doesn't give a lot of warning. Although no doctor can accurately determine "exactly how long" a patient has to live, they can approximate in days, weeks, months, years. His was months. We weren't even making plans past June because we didn't know how he would feel at that point; that's a horrible thing for any family to have to do. My dad was living, knowing that he was dying. I'm so very proud of him for handling it with such grace, faith, peace and optimism. In these past months I've truly seen a side of my dad that I had never seen before.

We are now on top of a mountain, thankful for this second chance at life. Even though this cancer has taken our family on a roller coaster to hell and back, it has taught us the true meaning of what living should be. I hope that we never, not a single day, take this lesson and miracle for granted.  Life is so very precious. Our family is so thankful and in awe of all the blessings we've been given this past year. God is surely capable of doing more than our wildest dreams.


This week has most definitely brought new life for all of us. 
Never has Easter meant so much to my little soul.