The One With The One In A Billion Jackpot

Tuesday went by, and there was no phone call. I called their office at lunchtime and left a message. I was beyond ecstatic when I saw on the caller ID that their office was calling.

But it wasn't Dr. Camilo, or his nurse. It was a different nurse calling to tell me that Dr. Camilo was in-patient this week and that it woudl probably be this evening after he had gotten off work before he called us. But she did say she saw notes that he had looked at the results, but needed to double check them.

I wasn't sure how to take that one. Really he woudl need to double check under either scenario. So we were still playing the waiting game. We had family dinner at my grandparent's house that night, still waiting for the phone call, and by 9pm I pretty much had stopped carrying my phone with me at all times, assuming he wasn't going to call that night.

Wednesday morning I called their office again. This may make me sound like an overbearing person. But the way I see it is they told us they would call first thing Tuesday morning, and they didn't, it has to be okay for me to follow up with them. Besides, I figured they constantly had parents concerned about their kids so it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for me to call.

Well the phone rang, and it was my mom. Then it rang again, and it was my sister. Third time, it was Eric. Fourth time it was the office. I was starting to hyperventilate every time my phone rang thinking it would be the doctor's and then it never was! I'm serious when I say that when the caller ID finally said "Dr. Camilo" I almost cried.

It was his nurse. She talked to me, confirmed the results, I thanked her, and hung up.

I was in disbelief. utter disbelief. I couldn't believe what she had told me. My fingers were shaking as I dialed Eric's number on my phone. It took him FOREVER to pick up.

"I just got off the phone with the doctor's office."

Big deep breath and a sigh on his end, like he was preparing for some potnentially bad news. "What did they say?"

"Well, I don't have the cell."
Really?
"And you don't have the cell."
Seriously? Grr . . . . .(really it was mumbling but I wasn't paying attention to what he was saying)
" . . . . But neither does Preslie. . . . "
mumbling, pause . . . . What?"

When teh nurse told me that, I knew immediately what had happend. Dr. Rand, of all people, the infectious disease doctor, who does not have a specialty in oncology had posed it as a one in a billion chance when he told me about what her blood work showed. He had said, "Her sickness that put her in the hospital was so severe, and had so many stages, stages we don't even know yet. There is a chance that whatever virus she had, reacted perfectly with her cells, and created these nuclei that will go away on their own, and won't ever be a problem."

I reminded Eric of that, and he was speechless, I then told him what the nurse had said.

"I've never heard of these cells just going away on their own, so I asked Dr. Camilo, and he said it is a one in a billion chance that the molecular make-up of her cells responded perfectly to the one specific virus that could cause her white blood cells to take on the appearance of these cancer cells. After 30 days (the lifespan of a WBC) they die, and there is no more pseudo cancer cells in the system. He absolutely told me after we walked out of your exam room on Monday that it could only be the two options he gave you: cancer, or genetic. He didn't even think this was an option since she has had three blood tests that show it. He said the chances are so small, one in a billion, that he didnt' even consider it an option. We don't need to see you ever again, unless you want to come and visit."

I told her thank you, and that that news was worth waiting for. It was incredible to call up Eric and tell him, I have never been so happy that I literally cried! And calling the rest of my family and letting them know the good news was amazing too.

Their explanation: One in a billion chance that the molecular make-up of her cells responded to the perfect virus to create these abnormal cells with no further difficulties.

Our answer: We just witnessed a miracle.