I’ve got a new lease on life!
First, I remain disease-free, according to today’s PET/CT scan.
And, I AM getting immunotherapy. There are a few hoops, like approval from my insurance, which happens to be Medicare, which, my doctor said, the last time she asked for the okay for this treatment, she received in a day. She’s already filed for it. I put my John Hancock on that release form in two seconds!
Here is what is cool about immunotherapy. It opens your body’s immune system’s “eyes,” is the way my endocrinologist describes it. And they tackle the cells that aren’t supposed to be there.
Which is the opposite of chemo, in which an outside agent goes after the cells that aren’t supposed to be there.
Previously the way to treat the cancer I was diagnosed with was to blast it out and then run me through a CT/PET scan every two or three months to see if it returns and if it did, hit it with whatever they’ve got.
“But, “ said my endocrinologist, “why wait if you can use immunotherapy to prevent its return?”
“Yeah!” I said, happily agreeing.
There’s another reason they called me last week—right after, I must point out, I said to God, “Um, God, can you make getting cured a little easier for me?”
And the phone rang a moment after that. It was Ingrid, my endocrinologist’s nurse, saying something about immunotherapy which I had never heard of but sure liked the sound of!
So here is the other excellent piece of news! I have what they call a “marker.” It’s a good marker to have. Especially if you score high. Which I did. I scored 90 out of 100. They are happy if you score a 1. This marker means that what I was diagnosed with is very vulnerable to immunotherapy.
Yeah. I like that.
Also, immunotherapy goes after not only what I was diagnosed with, but any other cancer that happens to have the temerity to enter my body!
Does this mean no more colonoscopies?
Above a shot from the garden of the Airbnb I’m staying in, which is full of blossoms, thanks to the tender ministrations of its owner. I think it’s pretty symbolic, too.
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