Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Health Update and Apology

First the apology - I'm sorry I haven't blogged lately. I haven't felt very creative so have no new projects to show. Hopefully that will change with the new year. Read on for more about my health.

As of this past October I was 3 years post chemo. I had labs about 2 weeks ago and saw my oncologist on December 22 (#4 in 4 years for reasons beyond my control). I wasn't due for a CT scan until March, but in order to get labs, exams and scans all "in synch," we bumped it up to December, so I had that on Christmas Eve. My labs were perfect - my CEA, which is the tumor marker, was even lower than it was in June (yes!). My CT chest/abdomen/pelvis scan was perfectly normal, no spots on lungs, liver, kidneys, spleen, etc. More than once during our visit the doctor told Stan and me that I'm a "miracle." He said he had reread my chart (I'd only seen him once, last June, so he isn't very familiar with me yet) and with all I've been through and the course of things it really is a miracle. I guess that switch of chemo regimens midstream and the extra 2 treatments must have helped!

In March I will be 4 years out from diagnosis - the further away from 3 years, the better, and once we hit the 5 year mark we can really celebrate!