The News Is In

This past Wednesday was a long one for me. It was the day I would learn my fate for the weeks and months to come. I suffered through yet another CT scan in the morning and drank enough of that nasty iodine liquid to make a guy sick. Then, I was injected with the glowing liquid while my body was scanned. Normally it makes me nauseated, but thankfully the techs listened to me and things went fine.

I met my oncologist later that afternoon to find out the results, but they were not in yet. He did a physical to check for any lumps, he said things looked good. He told me that even though the results hadn't come in, he could tell me the three scenarios. First, if my lymph nodes had gone down, no more treatment would be required. Second, even if they were the same size, we would likely stop treatment and just keep an eye on things. Third, (and the most upsetting) -- if the nodes had gotten larger, more aggressive treatment would be required along with a possible bone marrow transplant.

After I left the doctor's office, I thought about that third option for the next few hours. I thought about how much I had already been through, and how I didn't want to deal with anymore major operations or treatments. But then again, some people are much worse off -- maybe it would be something I could handle... maybe I would be fine?

Later that evening I was hanging out with my friends Zeke and Thane at a brew pub in downtown Portland, when my phone flashed that I had a new voicemail. It was the news I had been waiting for. The doc reported that my lymph nodes had gone completely back to normal! I was THRILLED! No more treatment! I am very happy to hear that my life just might be going back to normal after two years of this! We can all hope right? Zeke and Thane were happy for me as well and even bought me dinner that night. It was a good way to end an otherwise nervous day.

I'm not totally out of the woods yet, but as long as things remain clear over the coming weeks and months my odds will continue to improve as far as remission and recovery goes.

So there you have it, I might actually be okay... at least for now. And that's all that counts. When you're me, you take things day by day and hope for the best. Now I can give my body the next few weeks to heal up from the damage that was done as a result of what has been done to it... then maybe after that I can start going to the gym again. Life as I know it might return to normal -- whatever that means.

-LB

P.S. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!