So on Tuesday Sept. 28, I had my third thoracentesis. This procedure to drain the fluid that had built up in my pleural space went well. They pulled approximately 1300ml of fluid, and from the x-rays taken afterwards, it appears that all the fluid has been removed. The previous two that I had took out about the same amount of fluid each time, but each time they were unable to get all the fluid out. Now they have. I can breathe more fully now than I've been able to since January or February 2021. It's a nice feeling, I must say.
On Wednesday Nov. 17 I had an MRI on my brain to take a look & see if the metastases I had remain gone. We met with my doctors on Tuesday Nov. 23 to go over those results. My brain is still cancer free. With that result, and the result I had from my PET scan from Sept. 13, I am officially No Evidence of Disease. This is the best possible outcome for someone with Stage IV cancer, and we are extremely happy to have gotten here as quickly and (relatively) easily as we have.
There are many things to be thankful for every year, but this year the big three are Family, Friends, and Science (particularly cancer research science). Without these three things, I would not be here today. The love and support of Kirsten and Maya and Dylan, and also my Dad & stepmom & brothers and my Uncle and Aunt, have really helped me throughout all of this and I am forever blessed to have them all in my life. I also want to particularly thank Tammy & Roland Ortega, and their kids Maya & Roman. They have really gone above and beyond for me and my family over the last 6 months or so as we navigate all of this. Thank you very much, Ortega's!
So with the fluid gone, and with the cancer currently not active/dead/not detectable, I'm hoping that this blog will get very, very boring. Every few months, I'll have more scans. As long as they do not find any progression, I will just continue taking a daily pill. I'm hoping I can just post "Still N.E.D" after every set of scans for a long while.
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody, and thank you for all the support!
