[6:21pm]
The results are in: my scans are clean. Well, as clean as we can detect, anyway. My doctor tells me that "The fire is out, but we can't be sure that there aren't any hot embers just waiting for a gust of wind to flare up. That's what the radiation is for... those embers that might be lurking."
But, as of now, I've done all that is required in hopes of a cure. My doctor tells me that if a relapse occurs at any point, then the strategy is no longer curative. The options become more scarce.
But right now, I am in remission. My doctor tells me that, if I stay in remission for 5 years, he will pronounce me statistically cured. Basically, I have 1779 days left until I am free from the threat. The other milestone along the way is after two years of remission -- most Hodgkin's that do relapse, do so in that period. Today is day one.
It's also the first day of school for me. It's hard for me to return... again. All those emotions and ambitions returning... Time to succeed.
I also saw the radiation oncologist a few days ago. I have the "set up" scan scheduled in a few days. Then daily radiation for four weeks. It will probably start about a month from now.
Funny how "Day One" is 9 days short of my cancer discovery. 1779 to go.
As of now, my blog is scheduled to be updated "whenever I have something to talk about."
Philosopher of the day: Epicurus (He's not what you think).
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
Fantastic news, Austin - clean scans - nothing better :0) Now, just to get rads out of the way and on with living life to the full!
Thanks for sharing your journey - you've coped amazingly. I look forward to very infrequent positive posts - enjoy your cancer-free life from herein.......Vx
I hope you have time and headspace to feel joy at your victory, instead of "what shall I worry about next...". Give yourself some happy feelings! While relapse can happen, as a statistical possibility, it is actually unlikely now. The odds are probably much less than 1 in 5. (Patients who got a remission during conditioning, followed by a clean scan following HSCT.) A large portion of people who relapse after HSCT are the ones who did not get a full response during the conditioning, but you did get a full response.
We were thinking of a "clean PET-CT Scan Party" this weekend. What do you think? However, since your school is starting, I realize that you may feel a need to compensate for your long absence from school by trying to get a bit ahead with your classwork. If so we will certainly all understand.
Wish you could have been with us Saturday to hear the Schumann Concerto. It was very good. However, the unexpected surprise was the Sibelius Symphony #1 - I had never heard it performed live, and it was stunning. I heard so many details previously obscured by recordings. The romantic second theme brought tears to my eyes, and the rolling crescendo-decrescendo of the kettledrums and bass drum created an overwhelming sense of the surging sea. It was great. You would have liked it.
A great big WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO to YOU! Good work Austin!
And now, back to your regularly scheduled life!
Hugs,
Tante Laurie
Hey Austin, just wanted to say congrats on the clean scan! That's awesome news and I look forward to hopefully following in your footsteps. Have a beer on me :-D
WOW!! I am thrilled! We will keep praying for the whole enchilada - CURED! But meanwhile we will rejoyce in this report.
Love,
Mom
Congrats ! Austin!
So glad to hear the good news!
Greg
Celebrate each and EVERY moment. Congratulations Austin! On this huge, first, big step, back into the world of normalcy.
Here's to hoping, years, and years, of clean scans follow this one.
Sending Love to you and your family,
Bekah
Wow!!! I'm so glad to hear you're in remission! <3 I was just thinking it had been almost exactly one year since the discovery of the cancer. Man. I'll never forget that phone conversation.
But here you are now. I'm happy for you.
Hey Austin - just checking in - hope school's going great and everything's on the up. Have you started rads? If so, hope all that's going smoothly too.........haven't forotten you!!........Vx
Austin has not updated his blog in a while. I will update visitors instead.
He started radiation treatments, once a day very early in the morning. His most recent report to me was that he was not noticing any appreciable effect of the treatments on his health or energy.
His hair is regrowing. He looks like a marine recruit, with a close-cut haircut. His hair is softer and finer than before. His beard hair is still coarse, though. The many lesions and scars on his skin from the various catheters and the skin damage caused by the chemo treatment (especially the VP-16) are fading. Oddly, his triangle shaped birthmark on his right upper lip became more prominent - most people probably never noticed it at all, but we who have known him since an early age recall this faint triangle from his infancy. It had been fading throughout his teens and had almost disappeared, but the chemo seemed to bring it back. It has an odd mystical significance to him, as if it is a physical symbol of a rebirth.
His main concern right now is his school load. He is a 4th-year underclassman at University of California at Berkeley going for a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. An engineering degree at one of the world's top engineering schools is a lofty goal. Though he tried to plan for a fairly light course load, the load turned out to be somewhat heavier than he expected. This is stressful for him, especially considering how long he has been away from school. However he welcomes the challenge and has a positive, forward-looking attitude. He is thinking about graduate school and other future plans.
He is enjoying the feel of living as a mostly-independent adult. He is with Liz in the house they rented together, and has his motorcycle and also a car (the car is technically still mine).
So the four main things which everyone needs to be happy seem to be his: good relationship, good place to live, good job (student), and good health. Austin's personality causes him to moderate feelings of happiness, so that he does not feel like he is making the mistake of assuming that things will remain good forever. This is not pessimism, but rather a desire to have his emotional state be rational and acceptable to his intellect. Still, there is enjoyment at many levels.
Austin, I have tried to summarize things. Please correct me if anything I said is inaccurate.
Post a Comment