All Clear

So I had my appointment with my oncologist today to go over the results of my CTscan.....and it's all good! All my nodes have shrunk to less than 1 cm so technically I am classified as having "no residual mass". That means I technically don't even qualify for the PET scan. PET scans are more often used to look at any residual mass to determine if there is still cancer or scar tissue. Since I technically have no enlarged nodes to look at, her preference is not to do one as there is a potential for false positives which would lead to more CTscans which means more radiation exposure (she said one CTscan is 150 times the radiation that you get from one chest x-ray). I am happy to not do it. Especially since I have been having possible arthritic pain in my back, right jaw and left hip and this inflammation my jaw would be hard to distinguish from enlarged nodes so I may have a higher chance of false positives (at least that was what was explained to me). So no PET scan but likely another CT scan sometime this year. I will continue to see the oncologist every 3 months for the next year for check-ups and bloodwork. I will likely get to have my port removed around Christmas (I wish it were sooner as it must be flushed monthly I found out today!) and will the oncologist again in 2 months from now (she bumped it up a bit so it didn't fall right around Christmas).

So it's all good news and Dr. McCarron (my onc) was all smiles...said it couldn't be better at this point. She did scare me a bit when she said that if it comes back within the first year then that's generally not good so I am going to be rather paranoid about any little bumps and lumps around my nodes. I am also loading up on the antioxidants and immune system boosters now that I can (not recommended at all during chemo).

My white blood count and neutrophils are already back up to 5.4 and 4.0 (reference range is 1.5-8 and I was below 1 all through chemo). This is one of the indicators for my immune system....so I should be pretty good and not as susceptible to everything which is great now that the girls are back to school.

So I will keep this short and to the point. All good news!
One last thing....this is a photo I took out of our kitchen window last week.

Yes it IS a lilac. Our tree has decided to have a second spring...just for me! I do love lilacs and their season is so short!