Mike is Cancer Free...Probably

We just got back from the oncologist's office where we were told some very good news, and some news that will cause us to have to wait on a 100% definitive answer. The very good news is that the original tumor is completely gone, and the lymph nodes under Mike's right jaw are also cancer-free (if they ever had cancer cells in them to begin with).

The only fly in the ointment is an area at the base of his tongue on the right side (mirror opposite from the original location), showing an undefined spot that could be cancerous, but is much more likely to be a residual "hot" spot from the radiation treatments. The oncologist is "pretty sure" it is a false-positive on the PET scan, but the only way to be 100% sure is to have the ENT doc take a look at it. The first look will be with a scope inserted down his throat. If that doesn't give the doc a good look, then it'll be biopsied. And, there was no sign of cancer cells in any other place.

So, if the last biopsy gave the doctors about 75% confidence that Mike is cancer-free, then they are now up to around 90% sure of that. Great news, but still a bit of a margin for error to eliminate.

Thanks to all of you for your love and support. We'll write more when we get back in town after traveling this weekend.

Mike and Terry

New call for Good Vibes on 9/24

Mike's PET scan will be at 9:00 am on September 24th. We are both worried and hopeful at the same time. Worried about what it could reveal, and hopeful that it will let Mike go from cancer patient to cancer survivor. He is showing no symptoms that would predict a bad outcome, but with this disease, you just never know.

We don't know yet when we'll get the results. We have an appointment with the lead oncologist on September 30th, but we hope to get the results before then.

As soon as we know, we will post the results to the blog.

Mike and Terry