I might be in the clear...

I had my doctor's appointment today. I walked into the crowded oncology office filled with old people staring at me...it was uncomfortable. They were probably wondering what the hell I was doing there. Anyways Dr. Nagourney called Dr. Einhorn and talked to him about my case and the size of my tumor and what we should do. According to the literature the size of my residual mass is borderline regarding whether to excise or not. It also depends on the tissue type. Dr. Einhorn says that I'm good and as far as he's concerned I'm cancer free and wouldn't operate.

Dr. N. was saying they would have to follow me very closely though probably with imaging studies every 3 months for 2 years. Then I'll fully be in the clear. Because the cancer could come back during that time Dr. N. ideally wanted me to get a PET scan which is a lot more specific than a CT scan. I guess it determines whether there is any "hot" tissue or living cancerous material. If the PET scan comes out positive then I'll probably go through with the surgery. But we have to pay for the PET scan out of pocket because it's not covered...but it's my life and I am worth it. I guess PET scans for the more common cancers are covered (breast and colon) but since mine is less common I have to pay.

Dr. N. was talking to us when his cell phone rang, he was talking to a very excited woman. He told us that he had a patient who was a well respected doctor from Cincinatti who had travelled the US to for different types of cancer treatments but none worked out. She went to Dr. N. and she's been in remission for over 6 years. I guess she was really putting his name out there in her community. She must have some connections because he told us that he might be on Oprah. Isn't that insane!

I will probably have my PET scan this week and I have another doctor's appointment next Tuesday. Physically I'm doing well, I think all of the chemo side effects are out of my body. I've been surfing a little bit, trying to do a lot of endurance activities...slowly but surely I'm getting back in shape.