Hey everyone. I haven't had much to write about since the results from my last scan because there hasn't been any real news. And that's a good thing. I continue to progress back to normal every day. The neuropathy in my fingers is all but gone. It's still going strong in my feet however, but it's not slowing me down. My hair is back and as healthy as ever. I am particularly glad to have my eyebrows and eyelashes back. And my white blood cell count is back in the reference range at 6200 per microliter (I was at 10400 just before chemo started). Below are a couple of pictures from David's graduation last month.
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| David (the grad) and a very proud Dad! |
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| A Happy Day for Us! |
I had my first checkup with Dr. Seifter on Thursday and everything went well. It was a routine checkup followed by some questions and answers. Other than needing to lose a few pounds, I am doing great. At this point I am considered to be in full remission. After three years with no recurrence (swollen lymph nodes or other symptoms), I will be cured. The good news is Dr. Seifter was recently in Chicago at a meeting of oncologists and there's some new data out that's specific to Hodgkin's Lymphoma. For patients who have a clean scan after the completion of chemotherapy, the odds of a recurrence of Hodgkins is now 2% (4 out of 200). I like those numbers! That's about the same as my chances for developing acute leukemia from the chemotherapy treatment. I also got several blood tests done, all of which were just fine. And I got to say hello to Dawn but missed Anna since it was her day off. My next appointment is Sept. 27. And there are no further plans for PET/CT scans.
To top off my Thursday I went to a Nats-Rockies game with ML (Mark), Sean P, Griff, and Mark's dad Phil (awesome tickets Janice!). The Nats won and I had a great time catching up with ML and talking with Phil. It was a great day to spend my last day of spring and something I've been dreaming about since last fall – returning to normal.
And thank you all so much for the incredible support for Alison's Team in Training triathlon drive. Jen has joined her as a teammate and they have met their $3000 fund raising goal already. You are all so very awesome. Thank you again.
Have a wonderful summer. I hope everyone has a chance to relax and enjoy a vacation.
