Way back in May, we had our appointment with the interventional pulmonologist. You remember him, he’s the one who said, “I think you have lung cancer and I think your lymph nodes are involved.” One of the challenges facing him at the time was a lack of background material. There were no prior scans for him to look at for comparison. In his words, “I have one data point.” He was referencing the CT scan he was looking at and sharing with us.

My how things have changed. Since that appointment, I have been scanned and rescanned and poked and prodded. CT scan, PET Scan, MRI, Ultrasound, and more. I had them all and all of them were prior to diagnosis. So now we have plenty of data points of how things looked in late May and early June BEFORE treatment started.

Today, I go in for my first new set of CT scans that will show how things look AFTER treatment started, after 40 doses of Tagrisso and two infusions of chemotherapy.

From the time of the last scan to now, the closest thing we’ve had to a data point is how I feel. And I have felt good. As I reported earlier, the cough is gone, the voice is clear, etc. We have taken those as positive signs for almost a month now. But how do we know? How can we be sure there’s really something positive happening without data?

I am reminded of my work in advertising, let’s say pre-2010, before we could get instant data reports on campaigns in progress. Back then everyone had to put their complete trust in the client, the strategy, the creative product, and the media plan and launch the campaign with the best of intentions, guts, and faith. That’s why brands hired professionals with a track record of success. And it worked. The campaign would run in the marketplace and people would come to the sale that weekend and shop. Or go to the polls and vote. And the results would come in at the conclusion of the sale or the election. Sales were good. The candidate got elected. That result was your data point.

For more than six weeks, Kathleen and I have put our trust in professionals with a track record of success, in medications with a track record of success, in a God with a track record of success. And we expect it to work. The cancer is smaller. Today we gather another data point. Friday, we’ll get the result.