Good News
Wow! I have to apologize. I posted the results of my latest scans on my Facebook account and did not even think to post them here. I guess, in a way, that’s a good thing: I was not as nervous this time around and so the need to share my results did not feel as pressing as usual.
The long and short of it is that my scans remain unchanged and my bloodwork is still fine. (I have mentioned that I like Dr. Kauh’s sense of humor. Well, it turns out his PA has a similar sense of humor. She suggested that Dr. Kauh come in to give us our results, since we had said in the past that we knew it would be bad news when HE came in for the checkup. In fact, Edie – his PA – came in and asked if we were freaked out when he came in. I was amused and could appreciate that kind of humor.)
My time at PanCan’s Advocacy Days was interesting. I heard survivor after survivor talk about being “cancer free,” yet, I never feel right using that language. As you know, Dr. Cameron (my surgeon) could not get all of the tumor, so there is a mass of cancer cells still in me. Since they have not been growing, we presume that they are dead, but who knows? Honestly, though, I think that even if there were no tumor left in me, I would still be hesitant about saying I’m “cancer free.”
We know that 70-80% of the people who have a successful surgery have a recurrence (usually within 2 years, but out to 5 years). So even when the surgeons believe they have gotten all of the tumor, somehow the cancer comes back. No one knows what will happen in my case (and worrying about it will not help).
I am pleased to say that I was pretty relaxed about this round of tests. As I have said here, I think a lot of that was just having a bunch of stuff going on. Regardless, no stress is a good thing.
The plan is to have another set of scans in September and, presuming they are also unchanged, I will be scheduled to have my port removed and I will skip to a longer follow-up period (either every 4 or 6 months; Dr. Kauh keeps changing his mind). All of this is good news. Things are good right now.
Cheers,
Merle
Thank goodness you are the only person who’s blog I read that is beating this thing and I was very worried! I am so happy for you and I hope you keep posting on this blog as I am not on your facebook. Good luck and keep on doing great!