It's official...the word coming out of my oncologist's office yesterday afternoon was most definitely remission.

R-E-M-I-S-S-I-O-N

I haven't been able to wrap my brain around it yet.



I went into my PET scan on Wednesday expecting the worst and hoping for the best. I got a good night's sleep and just decided that I couldn't change the results and so I needed to be prepared for whatever would happen.

The results initially that we were told by the radiologist were "remission" but a later look at all of the lab results was a little confusing. There were hot spots still on the tumor, bone marrow and my neck and my white count was down (3.4) as were my lymphocytes. So though we trusted that the radiologist was probably right, we couldn't help but worry that *maybe* there was still something.

I have continued to have difficulty getting a full breath and have chest pain at times and it is eerily similar to the initial symptoms that brought me in.

A trip to our oncologist yesterday afternoon confirmed that the bone marrow activity was likely radiation rebound, that the white cells weren't a terrible concern (likely early morning blood draw effects...go figure) and that the regions that did light up were <2SUV and were not of concern.

The chest pain/shortness of breat/difficulty drawing in a full breath could be radiation pneumonitis or could be permanent effects of the large size of the tumor and remaining scar tissue.

I have access to a great before treatment MRI picture side-by-side with my after PET and when I finally have it on my computer, I'll upload it here.

You have all been such a wonderful source of support for me throughout all of this. I don't think I could have gotten through it in one piece without your willingness to listen and comfort me....I love you all so much.

Thank you for being there for me!