We received the results of Phil’s post-surgical pathology report today. There is no evidence of cancer in his lymph nodes…meaning no chemo!

 

He has another quick follow-up appointment next week, but after that he’ll see his doctor for checkups every 3 months for the next year, every 4 months the following year and then every 6 months thereafter.

 

Right now, he is categorized as NED (no evidence of disease) and won’t be “cancer free” until he has 5 consecutive years with NED.

 

This is the very best news we could have hoped for. We went into today’s appointment very much expecting his doctor to advise him to go through a course of chemo even if they didn’t find anything in the lymph nodes. We’ve never been so happy to be wrong.

 

His doctor told us he has a 90% chance of survival based on studies of patients with similar types of cancer and post-surgical outcomes.

 

Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for your many acts of kindness, calls, cards and comforting messages. We are very fortunate to have so many wonderful people in our lives. 

This will be our last post on the CaringBridge site, but we'll continue to be notified about any new messages you leave for us here.  

And, of course, you can always reach us by email, text or phone. 

Onward!

xoxo,
Lauren