Touchdown!

Let's hear it for putting some points on the board! I went for a PET/CT scan at Hopkins yesterday, and was told that I am "negative for cancer, positive for inflammation." Dr. Georgiades said that cancer gets brighter and bigger on a PET/CT. My tumor sites have either gone completely dark (meaning that the tumors are dead and gone forever) or they are collapsing and getting dimmer - no longer a "hot spot." The inflammation is just a leftover side effect of the radiofrequency ablations (RFAs). This will disappear completely with time. Not only that, no new lesions were found and the little "ditzels" (tiny spots that are only 1 or 2 ml. - too small to declare as anything definitively) have not changed. I don't have to go back for more tests for 6 months. (By the way, the reason that a nuclear glucose isotope is injected through an IV to make the cancer "light up" on a PET scan is because cancer is hungry for sugar and the glucose in the IV provides the food. No wonder there's a correlation between sugar and the rise in cancer rates. Click here for more on this.)

As I mentioned in previous posts, I can never use the words "cancer free," "cured," or "remission." I will never be able to leave the football field, but I'm in the end zone, as close to claiming "no detectable cancer," or "no viable evidence of tumor" as I'll ever be.

If I have learned anything in the last 14 months, I've learned that we never know what the next moment will bring. I believe that this is my first of many negative test results, so I will savor it for awhile. I will not, however, take it for granted, and no, I will not stop living my anticancer lifestyle just because my cancer has either been completely killed or has been beaten into dormancy. This disease is vicious. It deserves no slack. This is not just a game, it's the Super Bowl.

But for now, I'm doing the Victory Dance!

Kathy

CANcer + HEALth = CAN HEAL

Resources: Livestrong - Blog and Facebook

I only recently discovered all that the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Livestrong, has to offer. They are a wealth of information, with international programs that are making a huge dent in the fight against cancer. They offer resources on survivorship, community programs, grants and research and many other ways to plug in and get involved. It's a place to go for answers.

From the main page of the website you can find the Livestrong blog, subscribe, and receive e-mail updates to all posts. From the blog you can also join Livestrong's Facebook page, where you can become a fan without having to send a Friend Request. This is where you can post any question or share experiences. I have asked questions and within a few hours, received very helpful information. It's as if there's a magic genie monitoring the Facebook page waiting for people to ask for help. Here's an example:

As someone who is constantly searching for answers, this is a gold mine! I am truly grateful for this forum and the magic genies who maintain it.

Livestrong!

Kathy

CANcer + HEALth = CAN HEAL