Punchy Mommy Believes in Life

I had a PET scan on April 8, 2013, which was actually a re-scan from a PET scan I had 6 weeks earlier. That scan showed that the remaining mass had an SUV of 2.4, which is very low and not likely to be active disease, I’m told. But, according to the Deauville Criteria, active disease is measured by the SUV of the mediastinum blood pool, the blood that regularly collects in your chest. My mediastinum blood pool was registering an SUV of 1.8, therefore, that scan was technically positive. The controversy lies in whether or not to use the Deauville Criteria. Not all hospitals use it. Oz uses it and therefore, we were concerned. So, I had another PET scan on April 8th. This scan showed that the remaining mass had an SUV of 2.0 and that my mediastinum blood pool was 2.0. This scan was unquestionably negative.

I’ll never forget one of the most dreadful grade school rituals. Recess was always after lunch in grade school. After spending many long and boring hours inside, I longed to go outside, get some sun, run around, and otherwise completely forget all the work we had done early doing reading, writing, and arithmetic. We scarfed our lunches in a desperate attempt to add time to the already to short recess. Then,we quickly cleaned up after lunch. We were ready to bolt out the door for recess, but our teacher always stopped us and made us to do the unthinkable. Bellies full from lunch, twitchy and excited to get out, we were made to line up at the door. We had to be in a perfectly straight line and we had to be silent before he/she opened the door to let us out. Why oh why did we have to be silent? Why did it matter? Just let us OUT already! I wanted to scream, and most likely did scream, if you knew me back in the day. This process always took longer than it should have because it was either me or my friends who could never be quiet. Our giggling and secrets that-had-to-be- told-at -that-very-moment could not be corked. Eventually though, we fell silent, realizing that we were only punishing ourselves. And, at that very moment when we were silent and lined perfectly our teacher would open the door. The sun blasted us just as the door was opened, and as though we were in a mosh pit, we all lunged forward at the same time towards the door. As my foot crossed the threshold, I would jump up. Arms and legs extended into the air, wind in my hair, sun in my face, not a care in the world for the next hour, and I would yell YAHOOOOOO!

I am cancer free.