At my last clinic appointment, Dr. Tatineni, Oncologist extraordinaire, scrolled through her computer screen to check on my blood work (aka, “labs”). She stopped rolling her mouse wheel and paused. She looked at the grid. Then she looked at me, “Your Tumor Marker is Normal.”

So, it turns out that something about me is actually normal. I’ll take that This means that things are moving in the right direction, for sure. But this tumor marker thing is only one signpost along the way. I’ve got to keep walking this path. It’s twisted and turned quite a bit already. Likely more curves ahead. Still, I’m happy to hear, “Your tumor marker is normal.”

She also ordered a CT scan. I went CT-ing, day before yesterday. And I received this message via the Minnesota Oncology Patient Portal: “The scan looks good. The mass in your chest is significantly smaller and there are no new areas of concern. We will talk more on Monday, when your next round of infusions begin.”

In the meantime, I want to throw a party. But, with two more rounds of chemo to go, we’ll hold off on that.

But when the time comes, when the tumor marker continues to be normal and cancer no longer threatens, we will  celebrate accordingly. Who’s with me?!