NED

Even though I had been very anxious earlier in the week, I had this strange sense of calm and peace this past weekend about my petscan that was  yesterday.  I think it was a huge help to know that so many people were praying that I would have a good scan.  The scan went as well as it could yesterday, and I was doing my usual check every 30 minutes of my online chart to see if the results had been posted.  Normally, once my doctor sees a report it gets cleared and posted so that I can see it. Nothing came through last night or this morning, and so I started to get worried that there was something bad that she didn't want me to read without her explaining it, etc.

When my oncologist walked in the room and said the scan showed good news, I was so relieved, and even more so when she said the words every cancer patient longs to hear: "No evidence of disease" (or what is often referred to as a person - NED).  Personally, I love NED, and I hope that I have a very long relationship with him.  The oncologist warned that NED can be pretty fickle and often only chooses to hang around for a couple of months, but we will hope for many years before he wanders.

What does this change for me right now?  Well, actually nothing in my day to day life.  I still have to stay on this medication since it brought me to this point, and I will be on it until it stops working/there is progression.  I do get a little break from testing in that we will be checking my tumor markers in 3 months instead of 6 weeks, and decisions about when to scan again will be made then.  Even though it doesn't change most things, it is  mentally & emotionally wonderful to be able to know that at least for right now we've managed to defeat those stupid cancer cells. They can be sneaky little things and strike back, but we still knocked them out in round 1. (I have this crazy picture in my head of a cell with boxing gloves that is laid out on the mat with a black eye and stars circling above its head & a foot holding him down)

Thank you again for all of the prayers, and I am beyond thankful for this news today!