Monday, June 16, 2008

Plenty to shout about!

I received great news today:

- My PET and CT scans are CLEAN.
- My blood counts continue to rise.

When I heard the news from Dr. Forman, I felt as jubilant as Tiger Woods after he sunk that difficult putt on the 18th hole.

As Newsweek editor Jonathan Alter wrote in his "My Life With Cancer" article, the semiannual scans are like a visit to the parole officer. "When the scans are clean, it's worth another six months of freedom, though with no guarantee of extra time for good behavior."

My EOS (a type of white blood cell) counts are still abnormally high at 53% (0-4% is normal). I'm also losing weight again (three pounds in two weeks) even though I'm still trying to pack on a few more pounds. (These two things may or may not be related.) At any rate, I'm going off the minocyclin prescribed by my dermatologist to see if it's causing these whacky side effects.

7 comments:

Karen said...

Yay! That's so great. Really, really glad to hear it. :-)

Anonymous said...

Yay Susan. Will you get tested again in awhile to see if going off the minocyclin makes a difference with the white blood cells and the weight loss?

Susan C said...

Yes, I'll continue to go in monthly for blood work, so we'll find out if my blood (and weight) return to "normal" off the antibiotic.

If that particular antibiotic is the culprit. there are others that my dermatologist can prescribe. If not, well. . . we'll just have to wait and figure out what's goin' on.

One Mother with Cancer said...

I'm so glad for you.

Piper Robert said...

Yahoooo!!!

Nancy said...

Susan, Awesome News. PET and CT scans clean is the best news possible!!! Keep up the good work. love, nancy

Ann said...

Great news about the scans!