Scan, scan, and scan again

so i had my follow up today - and the scan shows some signs of improvement - the lymph nodes are improved.

problem is, there was a 2 week gap between the prior PET scan, and the start of chemo - so we don't really know if there was more progression in those 2 weeks, so can't measure how the chemo is doing.

so the plan is to do 2 more weeks of chemo, and then in 16 days do another scan. then we can absolutely, with a certainty, measure what the chemo is, or isn't, doing.

and based on that, we'll decide about the tamoxifen.

i'm ok with this plan... and seriously, my doctor makes a really good case for making medical history with this, assuming it all does what it's supposed to do.

he has another patient, small cell cancer (mine is non-small cell), who started the tamoxifen... and after one round... ONE ROUND... was reporting that he felt better than he had felt in years

now, for those who don't know the differences... small cell cancer is brutal. it's aggressive, it's resistant to treatment, and it kills very fast. and that patient is feeling better than he has in years!

so i'm very optimistic, completely on board with this plan, and made my doctor promise to spell my name right when he makes medical history using my case.

i wanted to leave a mark on the world, in some small way.... this could be the mark!

aside from that, it's sort of a holding pattern.... chemo this friday, chemo next thursday (for some reason, friday the 13th was all booked up), and then a scan and more chemo the following week.......

just in case there was any question... chemo pretty well sucks. the more of it you do, the more it sucks. but i can do this.... i WILL get through this, and i WILL go back to work, and i WILL see my children graduate from college.... that's my goal.

oh, and if i can finish their blankets? bonus!