NO MORE CHEMO!

Yep, you heard right, I'm done with chemo! Had a follow up appt with my oncologist today and she told me that I've concluded my chemo treatments. I got the results back from the biopsy done this past Monday, and I'm excited to say they came back negative! Yes Yes, it sounds all fine and dandy, but these results aren't 100% accurate. The biopsy that was done was a fine needle aspiration, and similar to the needle aspiration originally done on my neck back in April, that came back negative too. If you can recall, it wasn't until the full removal of the nodes in my neck did the doctors confirm it to be positive for Hodgkins. Sooooooooo, what I'm trying to say is that its still possible that the node in my chest is still cancerous.

So, whats the next step? Well, for the time being I'm just soaking up the good news, its been awhile since I've gotten any!

My oncologist mentioned I have 2 options:

Option #1) We can head straight into radiation. 20 years ago Hodgkins was treated solely with radiation and the cure rate was pretty good with that plan of attack, so radiation to this node will hopefully knock it completely into remission. PET scan will be taken afterwards to hopefully confirm no cancer. However, IF radiation doesn't work and PET scan still comes back positive, I'll need to have another biopsy done, this time removing the ENTIRE node to figure out why its resulting in positive form on the scan. This procedure is called VATS (http://www.rush.edu/rumc/page-1160429783340.html). The problem in doing this procedure AFTER radiation - there will be A LOT of scar tissue from chemo and radiation, this will probably make it very difficult for my surgeon to grab the lymphnode from my chest, maybe even impossible. Another negative to this procudure is that again, they'll have to collapse my lung, so recovery will be a little tougher and will require at least one nights stay in the hospital.

Option #2) We can go right back to the Operating Room and have the surgeon do the VATS procedure ASAP. In doing this, we will get a definite diagnosis from the biopsy on the lymphnode and it will probably be much easier for the surgeon to get to the node. Whether the biopsy comes back positive or negative, radiation will be required.

So my next plan of action is to call my Thoracic surgeon and get an idea on what he's comfortable with, I'll be doing this tomorrow. In the meantime - physically, emotionally, mentally I feel great, its nice not having such a burden on my shoulders like I did this morning. My blood pressure reading prior to the oncologist meeting with me was 145/90.....for those with BP issues, you know thats not great! I was nervous as hell!!!!

Anyway, Im really looking forward to the fundraiser, I can finally "let my hair down" (though its not much) and enjoy a few beers with family and friends. If you plan on coming and have any questions, please dont hesitate to reach out ot me.