re·mis·sion

–noun
a. temporary or permanent decrease or subsidence of manifestations of a disease.
b. a period during which such a decrease or subsidence occurs: The patient’s leukemia was in remission.

One Sweet World– A little Dave Matthews for your listening pleasure.

I was very surprised and excited when Dr. Ellis called to tell me the news. I was not expecting to hear anything until Thursday so to have great news so fast was a blessing! I am very, very happy to know that it’s in remission. At the same time, I had completely mentally prepared myself to not care about whether or not it was since the show must go on.

I hadn’t allowed myself to do any research online about any of this. Last week at my first “real” appointment with Dr. Ellis (who I love by the way), we talked about time lines of when we would do what, and just a little bit about the prognosis.

prog·no·sis
–noun
a forecasting of the probable course and outcome of a disease, esp. of the chances of recovery.

We chatted for one minute about one study, but it was enough for me to allow myself to do a little research. I don’t know if a lot of you have googled it and read about it, but I found this article, which perfectly describes what I’m going through and pretty much, what he said about prognosis. Below is a summary of what has just happened and what is next:

Approximately 80 percent of newly diagnosed adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia enter complete remission after the initial treatment, meaning that there are no detectable lymphoblasts in the blood or bone marrow and that the bone marrow is functioning normally. However, such remissions are usually short-lived unless additional chemotherapy is given…

Once remission is achieved, additional therapy is needed to avoid relapse. Relapse probably occurs because abnormal cells are still present, even though these cells cannot be detected by routine examination of the blood or bone marrow.

Which is why I am checking back into the hospital on Saturday to begin our second round of chemo. I will be in for 4 days, which isn’t bad especially since I know what to pack this time! I am looking forward to seeing my 5W nurses again, I have missed them.

I guess what I wanted to say in all of this is YES! REMISSION! I know it’s because of all of your prayers that things have been going so great for me. I am SO THANKFUL for everyone who has been thinking, praying, loving and supporting me. I am so blessed to have all of you in my life. I know that the road is going to be long and I’m going to need all of you with me for the long haul!