“Complete Response” are two great words!

I did the scan thing on Thursday… and on Friday, Robin (Dr Cecchi’s lead nurse) called me with some good news. I called her back and she said she had the PET scan results with her, and that I had a “complete response” ! Okay, now, if you’re thinking like I am, you think “what, I filled out a survey?”… that’s a complete response, right? No, this complete response is far better when it comes to cancer. It means that, as of Thursday September 21, there’s no sign of cancer. The implication is that the cancer had a complete response to the treatment — it responded exactly as the doctors’ intended it. There’s more scans, probably every 6 to 12 weeks, but for now things are good.

This doesn’t rule our surgery… and now I’ll really have to do research to figure out what’s next with my doctors. I meet with Dr Cecchi on Monday, and Dr Swift (the radiation oncologist) on Wednesday. But this is by far the best possible outcome.

I was even cleared to have a beer or two. I tried this really good Pilsner (Truman?) out of a micro brewery in Berkeley…

What a great way to start the New Year (Saturday was Rosh Hashona). This, and of course the Cal Bears performance against ASU. But now that I know what it means, “complete response” are the two best words you can possibly hear!