We are definitely celebrating as we have received awesome news! My scan has finally come back clear and my doctor has informed me that I am officially in REMISSION. I am enjoying the idea of not going back to visit my oncologist until August. My summer will be relaxing, all I have to do is enjoy my family and watch my hair grow back! Yay!

This will be my last post for this cancer blog. Thank you again to all of your for your supportive words and for giving me the opportunity to update you (and share some of my thoughts) in this way. It was a wonderful type of therapy for me! You definitely lifted me up when I needed it and showed me how God sends support just when we need it most. Thank you!

Good News

I talked to my oncologist this week and he was definitely able to ease my mind a little more about the scans. He said that it's not abnormal for the PET to show some activity if we scanned too soon post-treatment. He'll definitely watch me closer, but we're not worrying!

Insurance usually pays for these scans every 3 months - no sooner. He is checking to see if they will pay to have one in 6 weeks, and if not, we'll do it in June. He doesn't see that it is an emergency, which is good.

I know these updates are few and far between. I see that as a good thing. Let's hope I have nothing to report until my visit in April. Thanks again for all of your prayers... love to you all.

Scans

Yesterday I had my first post-treatment scans. This time they combined the PET & CT scans together... quite a process. I got results today & they are positive but a bit confusing! My doctor is out of town (never get a scan over spring break) so one of his associates called this morning and explained everything in great detail. I didn't get the "all clear" that I had hoped for, but it isn't exactly bad news either. Here's what I know right now...

The CT scan shows structure and changes in structure. This scan was normal, no growing masses and no abnormalities - great news! When I have scans every three months from now on, this is the type of scan that I will have. We will scan head to toe since lymphoma can pop up anywhere. But, yesterday I also had the PET scan and that one was more difficult to interpret.

In my basic understanding, the PET scan shows molecular activity. Tumors tend to eat up sugar in your system, so they inject a radioactive sugar something-or-another into my vein and watch where it goes. If it concentrates in one certain area, this area "lights up" on the scan and that is an area of interest to them. During my first PET scan, the area in my leg lit up - showing the tumor that we knew was there. This time, that area still faintly lit up. Best case scenario would have been no signs of activity at all... but this activity could also be caused by inflammation from radiation. It seems to take the body quite a while to recover from radiation - and tissue that still shows inflammation will light up as well as tissue that still holds some residual lymphoma. Confusing, eh?

So... they will likely just repeat these scans in 3 months. If the area lights up a little less, great! We will blame everything on the radiation and move on. If the area lights up a little more, not so great... we might have residual lymphoma. BUT, the doc said that this is still highly treatable and highly curable. It might just take more time. I am VERY optimistic that it's all from radiation and all is well.

In all reality, I am going to need to get used to living scan to scan anyway so this is my new norm. Everyone will tell you not to do that, but come on... that's our reality! I am used to this kind of routine already and I'm pretty good at living normally in between scans or tests.

Thanks for ALL of your prayers and support. You all have lifted me & my family daily and you continue to do so. I'm going to enjoy this week of spring break and I hope you do the same. I'll post again next week after I know what my doctor plans to do with me! Love to you all...

Treatment is OVER

Good Morning!  I am glad to say that my life has gotten back to being busy... and fairly normal.  I finished radiation last Friday and it was a wonderful feeling to walk out of those doors knowing that I didn't need to come back.  No more afternoon drives to Dallas!  I won't be going back until March 5 for a visit with my oncologist.

I am feeling great.  My hair is growing back, slowly but surely.  I'm not quite to the point of going hat-less but I'm getting closer every day.  I don't know if that's because I actually have an adequate amount of hair or I'm just really tired of my hats.  I went back to the gym for a spin class on Saturday and that felt great... although it was much harder than the last time I did it in October.  That was another step in getting back into my old routine.

I'm up this morning getting ready for a Tuesday with second graders, getting ready to pack lunches & wake Zach up... and happy to be doing it.  Life is good.

Updates

I know it's been a little while since we've written anything.  The days have gone by so quickly.  I have eight more radiation sessions to go... yes, I'm counting down.  My treatment was cancelled one day last week because the machine was down and again today because the roads getting to the hospital were icy.  Now, my last day will be Friday, Feb. 6!

Radiation is going well.  I haven't had any burns yet, but my radiation oncologist told me that those may start this week and get worse as we near the end of treatment.  I've got some lotion that they have prescribed to help with that.  I've definitely had some fatigue, but it seems that once I make it past the middle of the week I'm okay.  I've also noticed in the last couple of days that I'm starting to lose my eyebrows & eyelashes.  Strange timing, they are falling out just as the hair on my head is beginning to grow.  I met a girl yesterday who had chemo & rad on the same schedule as me and she's noticing the same thing.   It will be interesting to see how much disappears.  Every day is a new day!

Mom & Zach went to the oncologist with me last Friday.  I wanted Zach to be able to see where I've been going... he decided that he liked the fish tank there best of all.  It was kind of fun to actually take the time to stop and look at the fish with him, I've walked right by it many many times.  We took him for a nice lunch and a stop at the mall for some new shoes.  I think he had a really good day.  My oncologist said that everything looked great that day.  He'll schedule a scan in two months to check treatment progress.  His plan is to run a scan every 3 months after that and do a physical check of my lymph nodes every 6 weeks... for the next 2 years!  

Thanks for continuing to check in on us - God Bless each of you!

Whew!

I've finished my first week of school and radiation and last night I finally realized that I am tired! I laid on the couch and fell into a sleepy stupor after we got the boys to bed. I think Michael and I had some sort of conversation as he was trying to convince me to get up and go to bed... but I don't remember a word of it!

I am actually really happy to have a reason to be this tired again. My anti-nausea meds would make me ridiculously tired too, but this is much better! :) My week at school was wonderful. My long-term sub., Sarah, came in a lot to help me out and take over when I needed to sit. She's a gem and I appreciate her so much. Everybody at school has also been so supportive and I continue to see that they are taking care of me. I LOVE being back there.

Radiation is weird. It's hard to find another word to describe it. One thing I do enjoy is that since we all basically have the same appointment times every day so I have seen the same people in the waiting room. We actually sit and talk while we're waiting, more time to get to know each other than when we would pass & smile in the hallways. Sharon & Rosalyn, I'll see you on Monday for our daily zap! The radiation itself is not at all what I expected. It's a lot like an x-ray machine that rotates around the table. No laser beams, no heat, just some clicking & buzzing. The longest part of the process is getting me lined up & in the right place. The actual radiation (once the techs leave the room to run the machine) takes about 5 minutes. The drive to Dallas is the hardest part. But, I enjoyed that this week too. My brother drove me on Thursday & Friday so we had some time to visit. I don't know the last time that just the two of us had almost 3 hours of uninterrupted talking. I don't know that he enjoyed it as much... he was driving! I just got to sit & enjoy the ride.

One more time, I have to say that I'm so thankful for everyone who has been praying for us & helping us! We continue to have people sending prayers, cards, money, meals... the list goes on and on. We love you all and we are happy to share this road to recovery with you!

School & Radiation, I'm Busy!

One more new experience... tomorrow afternoon I will start radiation. I'm excited to get this phase of treatment going, and even more excited to get it over with!

I've had two appointments for mapping & simulation and now I'm ready. Today at my simulation appointment they took really precise measurements of the radiation area and made their final marks. I met Judy, who will be giving me my treatments every day. I'm sure we'll get to know each other pretty well over the next 4 weeks.

I've been back at school for 3 days and I'm loving it! Sunday night was just like the night before the first day of school. I couldn't remember what time to set the alarm, I almost forgot to put the coffeepot timer on, and I didn't sleep very well. I made it, though, and it was great. Yesterday was pretty tiring, but today was better and I think I'm getting back into the routine. It was great to see my friends and my students. Everybody is so supportive... and the kids are so curious (and honest)!!! Here are some funny things that I've heard from the kids:

"Mrs. Allen, my friend told me that you don't have any hair under that hat, is that true?"
"Your hair came out? Is that supposed to happen?"
"Mrs. Allen, do you have disease?"
"Did you have a baby while you were gone?"

I'll check back in after I get an idea of what radiation is all about. I've got to get back to more normal things like making dinner for the family! :)