Done and Done! For Now...

PET scan results. On the left was me 4 months ago. On the right is now. All the flourescent stuff is cancer. Except for the brain and heart.

Well this week has been one of the longest weeks of my life! Aside from the week I was diagnosed 4 months ago. For those of you who follow me on Facebook or Twitter I'm sure you have heard the good news, and for those of you who haven't heard, I have a Complete Response (CR) to my treatments. What exactly does this mean? Well I always thought the proper word for this was remission but I stand corrected! Dr. Glenn said that with this type of cancer it never leaves the body. This means that the proper term is Complete Response, not remission or cancer free. But for the time being my cancer cells aren't active which means I can start back to my normal life, but easing into things. But some questions that I had for the doctors that were answered...

• Can I now play basketball? The answer is yes! I even played today for the first time with my team since January and it was AMAZING! I am beyond out of shape but it was so fun to feel part of the team again.

• Am I cancer free then? No! The tumors are still there as are the cancer cells. They just aren't active right now.

• Will this come back? Yes... This type of cancer is a fast aggressive type of cancer. It can come back at anytime but we will catch it early if it does :)

• How often will I be checked? Every 3 months for the next 3 years I will go up to the Huntsman and get CT scans and blood work to make sure the cancer isn't coming back. After the first 3 years have gone by then I'll go every 6 months for the next many years.

Now What? Well first things first, I NEED to get back in shape for basketball! But to celebrate the fact that I'm on a nice break from cancer I am going to California to watch Daryl play soccer but not only will I be watching her play soccer I will also be going to Sea World, going swimming in the ocean for hours on end, and spending time with my family and hopefully my friend Kim! I'm excited for this summer to get back into the swing of normal life. This morning I did a sleepless EEG and I'll hopefully get the results of that test back by Monday. Anyways, Thanks everyone for the love, support, and the prayers. Its obviously working is all I have to say. Not only was yesterday a great day for me but it was also my dear friend and teammate Steph's Birthday! To celebrate we had an amazing BBQ, cake, ice cream, and had the whole crew over. Even the weather is starting to get a little better each day. I'll keep you all updated on everything that keeps going on. Also, my English class was so nice as to put an online auction on in my behalf. Tracy Jackson, who is not only my teacher but my favorite person to sit by at Daryl's soccer games, is such an amazing woman! With the help of her and the students of my class they were able to put this on. Take a look at the stuff they have there its pretty amazing: https://www.selectcharityauctions.com/catalog.aspx?auctionid=15

Thanks again for everything! This whole journey would have been impossible without all of you!

Love,

Alexis