Hip, Hip Poray!

I went to see the oncologist, yesterday. He said that I'm officially in remission. My hormone levels are good. My iron is up. My cancer marker is up a little, but we're not going to worry, yet. Three cheers for me:

• Hip, Hip ... Poray!
• Hip, Hip ... Poray!
• Hip, Hip ... Poray!

(My son is a little confused about the "hooray" thing. I don't blame him. People have a tendency to be a little slack with enunciation. I guess Scott and I must guilty. So, in our house, we have a unique celebration sound, "poray.")

Anyway, I'm in remission. The American Cancer Society explains cancer remission as "a period of time when the cancer is responding to treatment or is under control." It doesn't mean that everything is fine and that I can go back to my regularly scheduled pre-cancer life.

The next step is a PET scan in August, which will show any cancerous activity elsewhere in my body. It should be negative, but I pushed for it, anyway. I told my doctor that I would feel better if I had the test. I also told him that I would feel better if I didn't have a claustrophobia attack during it, so he gave me Ativan to take ahead of time.

Since I have a 13% chance of recurrence, I'll be watched and poked and prodded regularly. The most likely time that the cancer could come back is within the next two years. If I make it to ten years, then I'm considered cancer-free.

In the meantime, I'll keep up with my current regimen of "health." Every morning, I get up and shower, so that I can remove the bandages from my chest. I'm supposed to change them every 24 hours, because the blood makes them stick to the wounds. After that, I take my medications. (I realize that it's a little unorthodox to air a list of drugs, but at this point, what does it really matter? You've been reading about my breasts and ovaries for three months. No one will be shocked to learn that I'm enjoying some anti-depressants, right?) So, here goes:

• Calcium twice a day to prevent osteoporosis
• Vitamin D twice a day because I have a deficiency
• Black Cohosh for hot flashes
• Biotin for hair loss
• Zyrtec for allergies
• Multivitamin for being filled with goodness
• Tamoxifen for cancer
• Asprin to prevent heart problems
• Celexa for anxiety and depression
• Ambien to help me sleep and to not stress about all of the above symptoms

Don't I seem the picture of health?

Oh, well. Baby steps. Every day, I'm healing. Every day, I'm getting stronger. Every day, I feel the support of all of you.

Thank you.