YEAH!!!! CLEAN NODES, CLEAN NODES, Holly has CLEAN NODES!!!
Alright, so Dr. Wagner didn't find as many as he hoped to find. Apparently the fat pad they typically removed has an average of 5 - 20 lymph nodes. Still the negative prognosis means that they don't feel the need to go in and get any more. They are satisfied that they got the metastic Melanoma that settled in.
Dr. Butler (oncologist) said he was happy to consider me now on the good end of 50/50: the 50% of patients who survive Melanoma and reminded me that doing the Interferon Therapy will give me another 10-15% points to add to that survival margin! I will take all the points I can get!
The hope is that any lingering Melanoma cells will die when the Interferon treatments start on Monday.
Yep. MONDAY.
4 weeks of chemotherapy I.V. with Intron-A (Interferon Alfa-2b, recombinant), 5 days a week - 3 hours at a time. I will get allot of reading done and plan to make a few upbeat mixes for the iPod Mini.
After the 4 week induction stage, I am going to get 2 weeks off so Jim and I can keep our current vacation plans in place and then I will resume with 48 weeks of shots at 3x per week.
Lots to do over the next few days with Insurance, Work and odds and ends. And I will be smiling the whole time because in spite of the year ahead, We just LEAPED over a hurdle with some GOOD NEWS for the first time since this whole thing started! And good news is always welcome!
Any good suggestions for upbeat songs to listen to while in chemo? Any good books you can recommend? Leave me a note in the comments and let me know!
CLEAN NODES! CLEAN NODES! Hehehehe .. Living STRONG here in Northern VA!
5 comments:
I have some pretty upbeat mixes...email me and I can hook you up!
marnold at bhbinc dot com
YEAH!
This is fantastic news,girl!
Before I devoted all my reading time to scientific journals, I enjoyed the following authors:
Carl Hiaasen: Wackiness in Florida
Randy Wayne White: Milder fun/mystery in Florida
Tom Clancy: spy thrillers
Dorothy Sayers: Period mystery novels involving Lord Peter Whimsy
You might want to pick up a few new magazine subscriptions, too. Maybe discover a new hobby with a new magazine?
Congrats on the clean nodes!! And as far as the mixes do you have to do some horrible 80's songs. Devo, Rick Springfield, Duran, Duran - what more could you ask for? ;0)
Michelle
HOORAY HOLLY!! I'm so happy to hear that wonderful news!! I hope to be able to maybe see you at Columbia, so sorry that I won't be chasing you on Buttercup!
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