So after our visit last week, and while we were on our way to the beach, we were of course a bit giddy with Annette's good news....even though her arms were black and blue and bandaged from her blood wars....


We were talking and Annette wondered...Now that Dr. Jenkins had effectively given her the option to be released, what exactly is her status??...She had a couple of other questions that we forgot to ask, so why not ask her...  So on Tuesday morning, she did.  I was completely expecting Dr. Jenkins to tell her that she is still in long term remission, after all, that has been her status as far as we knew for a couple of years now...

In February of 2014, after 24 chemo and 31 radiation treatments, Annette's surgery to remove the tumor from her lung failed, because her lymph nodes still showed active cancer.  We were informed that there were no other prescribed treatments, and that we would move to palliative care.  She endured 5 more chemo treatments before her body said, "enough"....  In May of 2014, her PET scan still showed high levels of cancer cell activity...………  This past Tuesday, May 14, 2019 - 5 years, 6 months and 18 days after Annette discovered she had cancer, Dr. Jenkins said to her, "No Annette, you aren't in remission, you are cancer free".   "Cancer Free".  We didn't even know this was a possibility. 

We don't want to be presumptuous and say we won, but we will say that this particular battle is over.  I can't say for sure, but my hope is that this is the last journal entry I will write.  I'd like to say, "it's been fun", but it hasn't.  Theraputic, maybe.  But it has been made much easier because of all the help and support from all of you.  We surely couldn't have won this battle without each and every one of you.  Feel free to ask Annette her status, she loves the sound of saying, "I'm cancer free".   Thanks to you all.

As always, thanks for following along....

Dennis and Annette