(Calmly) Resetting the Clock

Saturday - August 3, 2013

Thursday's visit to UCSF brought the comforting confirmation of last week's phone call from the oncologist:  the scans are clear; nothing has changed; no lymphoma is visible.  And THAT's a true relief!  Hurrah!  Normalcy is not just an illusion.  It's confirmed. 

What a nice ride home!

When Megan and I asked about port removal, continued anti-shingles medication, and - most importantly - how have the odds of relapse shifted from the 50/50 of last autumn, we learned that dates are all relative.  That is, my new oncologist is dating my current status from the end of my last treatment (Halloween) rather than VCU's dating protocol of from my "all clear" PET scan of early August.  Joe has his own dating standard of late May/early June when my migraines abated and my double vision vanished.  But dates are just dates and who really knows when I transitioned from cancer-afflicted to cancer-free?  It's a mystery at the molecular level and I'm just riding this welcome wave of restored good health and function.  So the port?  Well, the goal is to get it out when it is clear that it will NOT have to be surgically re-implanted.  The oncologist wants us to hold off until Halloween?  Fine by me  :)  

And, as for those odds ... every month of health and each round of clear scans improve the likelihood that my lymphoma is either beaten into remission OR upon relapse CAN be beaten into remission through salvage therapy.  My oncologist kept citing "presumed CNS involvement" in my medical records rather than definitive CNS complications so that's also very good news.  While I have always had some doubts about CNS involvement (dictated by the presence of lymphoma in my left eye socket  and trace lymphocytes in my initial spinal tap), I am grateful that we attacked my disease with CNS in mind, slamming it with methotrexate in reversed Hyper-CVAD rounds and then piling on two extra-intense methotrexate cycles after the initial protocol of six chemo rounds.  Whatever it took.  That being said, I do like the word "presumed" - it makes everything seem rosier. 

Last - but certainly not least - I do so enjoy when an oncologist uses the word "cure."  This lymphoma can be cured.  I like hearing that.  Say it as much as you like, doctors.  "Cure."  And that's the goal ladies and gentlemen.  Cure.  Health.  Many more years.