Hello all - 

Been a while since I posted a cancer update.

Friday March 13th, as the state of Washington was shutting down, I went to a spookily empty University of Washington Medical Center and my radiation oncologist, Dr. Liao and his PA David Hudock, pronounced me to have "perfect nostrils," which is a good thing if you've had a very aggressive cancer in one of those nostrils. (Okay, it's funny too: I like saying I have "perfect nostrils.") I continue to enjoy watching the scope traverse the inner caverns of my nose. Lots of real estate in there...

This past Monday, May 18th, I had a telemed appointment with Dr. Shustov, my oncologist -- and the news was very good. My blood work is great, so I continue to be clear of cancer since October 2018, when treatment ended.

Current plan is that I'll follow up with Dr. Shustov, and Dr. Liao, every 6 months for ~3 more years. Both docs stopped stopped doing scans after good news on scans + bloodwork in December 2019. Scans at this point are more likely than not to show a false-positive -- and if the lymphoma's going to come back, the blood work will tell.

Long-term issues are possible, so I have to remain vigilant for a secondary cancer, tooth and gum problems, and nasal issues. No worries in any of those areas right now.

And my health is good otherwise: I'm eating well, exercising regularly, enjoying my online learning job at the University of Washington, and spending lots of time with family and friends (thank you Zoom). Also driving a lot less than I used to ;)

How are you all doing?