9-months

No we are not pregnant.

Are you still there?  Okay, a few people didn't stop reading after they found out it wasn't an "announcement."

9 months ago today I received my last dose of chemo.  It was Sarah's dad's birthday and as much as it sucks that I will always remember his birthday based on my chemo schedule, he never has to worry about me forgetting the day.  And as much as he would love for me to never have had to go through that, he has told me that sharing his birthday with the FINAL day of chemo and knowing that I'm cancer free is worth sharing.

So what happens when you are 9 months from treatment?  I've blogged about our 3-month check-up and the scare that we had at that time.  I've blogged about our 6-month check-up and the decrease in size of my thymus identified just by the CT and not even requiring a PET scan.  I'm not sure what percentage of patients, but the "standard/norm" is that I would be going to Group Health any day now to get a CT and follow-up appointment with Dr. Chen.

BUT I'M NOT!!!!

Dr. Chen has decided to skip my 9-month check-up.  His explanation is that I'm a healthy young man and all signs show that I'm doing just fine.  Therefore, why expose me to the additional radiation of the CT machine, consequently further increasing my risk of a secondary cancer, if there is no need to test me.  The plan is to have an appointment for my 1 year.  It is yet to be decided if that will be a CT scan or just an x-ray.  I have a feeling that it will hopefully be my last CT scan.  Initial conversations made it sound like Dr. Chen would like me to have my annual CT scan and then going forward would switch over to an x-ray.  I believe he just wants to verify that at the end of year 1 (the year when the majority of relapses occur) that all still looks good.  If so, he wants me to keep eating well, exercising well, and biking hard (I'll justify my cycling by saying it's doctor's orders).  In return, he will just schedule x-ray check-ups for me.  The downside is that x-rays do not show the teeny tiny definition and clarity of a CT scan, but also, the radiation in 1 CT scan is equivalent to getting 200 x-rays!!!  In other words, in the long run it will be better for me.

So instead we stay on the clear path like we have been!

LIVESTRONG