Friday, May 15, 2009

Melanoma Update - 4 Years!!

Yesterday was my 6-month follow-up with my Oncologist, Dr. B.  We are "old friends" now. We talk running, triathlon, and cancer. 

Dr. B is a good man and a great doctor but I still wish I didn't have to wait several hours for my "scheduled appointments" - Seriously, they should just say "Be here between 9 - 11AM, the DR will see you sometime in between those hours" instead of pretending that I have a 10AM appointment.  But to his credit, Dr. B gives me his time when he does get to me.  I never feel rushed out the door, he remembers MORE than just my blood counts and he takes time to answer my questions, big and small.

Since the beginning of my diagnosis in Feb 2005; Dr. B. has never sent me for a test that I didn't need. So when he told me yesterday that he felt that I was doing well and with 3 clean CT Scans in my cancer history, he felt that we could wait on a CT Scan this year unless I present warning signs of a "reoccurrence" at a later date, I was THRILLED!

No more "apple juice with barium" x3 and Iodine via IV?  WAHOO!

This May is my 4th year as a Melanoma Cancer Survivor. Next year (5 years) is a significant milestone, especially for Nodular Melanoma. My survival rate which is currently 50%, jumps to a range of 57-73%. 

 I'll take every percent I can and in the mean time, I am going to ENJOY skipping those 3 bottles of the "Nastiest Apple Juice, Ever!"

Dr. B, my stomach thanks you! LOL

4 comments:

Es --- IRONMAN! said...

GREAT news!!!

Relentless Forward Commotion said...

wahoooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

KeepMovin4Life said...

What an honor to read your blog, and your story. Nancy Toby gave me your blogspot address to follow. I just started blogging tonight, and can't wait to finish reading rest of your site. I have MS, and started training for triathlons last summer. I most recently completed my first one, and I am signed up for Eagleman which is my key event. Keep moving and Livestrong. That is my motto, even though I am not a cancer survivor, I still believe in everything Livestrong stands for. It is a way of life for me. keepmovin4life.blogspot.com is my blogspot if you are interested.

The Triathlon Virgin said...

Your story is an inspiration. Thank you for sharing it with us all.