The Picture of Health

Well it is official, Dr. Patel has pronounced me the picture of health and gave his congratulations for reaching two-years cancer free! The results of the CT Scan and blood tests were good - no evidence of cancer or even a suspicion of cancer. Furthermore, the BRAC 1 and 2 tests were negative - I do not have the inherited gene. Needless to say I've been doing the happy dance!

As if the appointment did not already have good news it got even better. Dr. Patel explained that each year I am cancer free gives me greater odds of beating cancer again if it should come back. I like hearing the odds are increasing in my favor.

This week I met for the first time with the HER2Sisterhood - a local group of women who also are HER2 positive. If you have been following this blog from the beginning you may remember that shortly after I found out that I was HER2 positive I wrote about this group of women and specifically mentioned one of the women, Germaine (May 1, 2006 "Never despair; but if you do, work on in despair"). Germaine was one of the original women in the clinical trials of Herceptin about ten or eleven years ago. Reading about Germaine gave me such hope and I have been carrying her around in my heart for two years. Imagine how I felt meeting Germaine this week - it was quite an honor to meet her and to tell her how much she meant to me. The group meets once a month for dinner and is joined monthly by the representative of the company that makes Herceptin - could it get any better?

It has been a good week, I hope it has been for you also.