Monday - December 17, 2012 - Cindy 2 - Cancer 0

Well...today was my follow up appointment to the CAT scan that I had on Monday, December 10th. First let me say that I am officially in remission...Merry Christmas to me! Like the jam of the month club...let this be the gift that keeps on giving!

First I saw Charlotte, who is the Physician's Assistant...when she walked in the room with a big smile on her face I knew. She told me that my CAT scan was beautiful, no sign of disease and that Dr. McC. would be in to see me shortly. I asked if there was anything in my stomach since I am still plagued with what I refer to as mild "motion sickness" randomly every day. She read me the report word for word. The only finding was an insignificant spot too small to measure that is in my lower left lung. It could be a non-responsive tumor or it could be scar tissue. Dr. McC. said I responded beautifully to treatment and that my scan results were also beautiful. So basically, everything is beautiful...in it's own way. I asked Dr. McC. about the insignificant spot...specifically if I would need to continue treatment. Her answer was no. Because of it's size, or lack thereof, and not knowing what it is (scar tissue or non-responsive tumor) we will not be treating it. Since I have had a re-occurrence I will never be cured (hmmmm...not sure about that) which means we will treat the cancer I had as a chronic health condition. And since I test false negative with the CA-125 blood test (protein markers that show if you have cancer antibodies in your blood) it will be up to me to be aware of any changes in my body by watching for symptoms (like before...unexplained coughing, difficulty breathing, etc.).

I will follow up with my Oncologist every three months...no testing (CAT scan, PET scan etc.) will be done unless I am symptomatic...or force her to do it...grin. I could be in remission for two months, 20 months, two years, or 20 years...who knows. Dr. McC. is concerned because I had a re-occurrence so soon after treatment (Oct. 2011 treatment ended...April 2012 is when I complained about coughing and mild shortness of breath) that I will have a re-occurrence again within a short period of time. She could be wrong...I am focused on being in remission indefinitely.

Monday, December 3, 2012 - Where's Cindy?

Hello Boys and Girls!

My apologies for concerning some of you by not keeping my blog updated but I have a very good reason...CHEMO SIDE EFFECTS! The fatigue has been unbelievable (see photo below...me in cat version)...I feel like I misplaced the last month of my life. Add to that being nauseous off and on daily for several weeks (which is the result of stopping the oral steroids following chemo) and you can see why I have been out of action. Treatment is done (sweet Jesus!). I had my last chemo yesterday (Monday, December 3rd). I have a CAT scan next week (Monday, December 10th...which of course will show that I am clean). Then I have an appointment on December 17th with my Oncologist to go over the results and discuss where we go from here. When I completed my treatment yesterday nurses hugged me...I saw smiles on the faces of other patients...and my assigned nurse of the day told me that I was one of her favorite patients...but that she never wanted to see me again. Ditto!

Much love to everyone for supporting me through this re-do journey. They say the second time is a charm...my thoughts exactly! I thank you for your calls, emails, cards, food deliveries, house cleaning, flowers, transportation, etc., etc., etc. I am such an incredibly lucky/blessed girl to be loved by so many.

I will update my blog after my doctors appointment on the 17th.