And the winner is... Me?

The results are in... and they're muddy. I didn't realize how much I was hoping for cut and dry, clean scan results until after I didn't get them. The news is good however. There is no new evidence of cancer showing up anywhere. My lower half still shows clean, and the area from the first surgery is healing well. Anything else showing up on the scan is most likely healing tissue from my last couple of surgeries in November. My primary oncologist is very happy with the results and is suggesting that we take a break for three months and then do another PET scan at that point. So... we may actually be past the treatment part of this battle and on to the wait and scan and then wait and scan some more portion. Just so you are all aware, it takes five years of this wait and scan bit before they start using the big "R" word (remission).

I have an appointment with another oncologist on Monday to get a second opinion. I think I hope that he'll have the same thoughts. It would be nice to take a break from all of this for a while and assume the best. At the moment however, I feel like I am still in a state of stasis until next week.

I've found that navigating the netherworld of not knowing has been one of the hardest parts of all of this for me. I'm not a tremendously patient person, and waiting for test/scan results has always been some of the most difficult times. As it is, I can feel myself already hoping for a clean report in three months. Plenty of time to continue working on those patience skills.