...except in personality. HAHA My PET scan results show resolution of the lesions. There are 4 spots of some inflammatory activity. Three are on my spine and one on my sacrum. Dr. S feels that these are just residual activity from bone reaction to chemo and recovery, not active lymphoma. So for right now - no active lymphoma showing on the PET. That's great news.
My mother had a huge crush on Dr. S. She was his patient for 15 years before she passed. I like him and all, but I don't "like him like him." LOL For me, he's more McBrainy than McDreamy. Today he was - as usual - McSlippery. He doesn't not like to be pinned down....at....all..... So when I mentioned the next steps..he balked. Meghan said, "Mom needs a plan" and I agreed that a plan can change, but there has to be a plan to start. So, after a lot of hemming and hawing, he put the future in another new way. Every time I go, there's a new look to my future, based on his responses.
In 4 months I'll have another PET scan. If there's no active lymphoma on that, we can call my status "remission." At that time, we can schedule dear Frank, my lovely port, to be removed. That means standard IV chemo is behind me. Worst case scenario is there is active lymphoma on that PET and we go to a more intense chemo protocol, and potentially harvest and then later transplant bone marrow. He indicated he did not expect this to happen at all. He even commented that we pushed into the RCHOP chemo protocol to keep this movement into a more intense lymphoma from happening. So we don't expect that. We expect remission.
Lymphoma is slippery, too. We anticipate a recurrence. It might not happen during my lifetime, but 15 years is considered a good remission for follicular lymphoma. If/when there's a recurrence in the future, the current protocol is an oral chemo or targeted immunotherapy. There are also always clinical trials. And let's face it - in 15 years anything could have been discovered. But not traditional IV chemo. Thank GOD!!
I'm ready to say goodbye and good riddance to lymphoma for however long. Can't wait for the four months to pass, although I don't wish time away.
Meanwhile, I'm feeling good. I made it through the DR trip without any issues at all. I felt strong and able to handle everything I needed to do. (I didn't do any actual work, and avoided the sun, according to doctor's orders.) The PT I started beforehand really helped a lot. (I'm still going - building myself up.)
Now I just need to get this hair to come in a bit more. Oddly enough (not odd at all) it's very grey. It's only 1/4" long, but several friends have said to just let it grow in grey and be done with it. I've dealt with a bunch of stuff in the past 6 months, but never in my thoughts did I see myself having grey hair in my near future. So next Tuesday I'm getting it colored. It'll be a challenge, given that it's 1/4" long, but I can't take the q-tip head look any more. And this way, when we go on vacation August 3, I can go completely hat free and not feel as conspicuous when I'm swimming and whatnot. Can't stand the HOT hats any more. I went hat free in the DR and must say I've been mostly hat free ever since (except when I'm in "public.")
I'll post before and after hair pictures next week. :)
