I’ve jumped another hurdle in cancer – I’ve officially passed the two-year mark of being in remission. I went to the oncologist today and all results were clear, my blood work was normal and he gave his official seal of approval – “Sweet!”

So, what does this mean?

• I’m out of the clear when patients with my specific subset (Non-Hodgkin’s Primary Medistinal Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma) tend to relapse.
• I only have to get PET scans and check-ups twice a year now, instead of every three months.

I am quite excited. In fact, I think I’ll just throw another party. Details to come.

However, in the mean time, on September 29, I’m walking in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light The Night Walk at Citibank Park in Central Islip. Last year, my team, Squash Lymphoma, raised over $2,000 and I will be donating a DVD/VCR combo I received as a prize to the BMT ward at Stony Brook University Medical Center.

If you’d like to donate for the walk, my page is here: Light The Night Donation Page

If you’d like to join me for the walk, the team page is here: Squash Lymphoma

I hope you can join me!

Ever have a song stuck in your head all day, and no matter what you tried to do, it never went away?

Well, today I had another PET/CT scan. Stony Brook Medical Center now has Sirius satellite radio, and the station was set to soft adult contemporary.  I swear, it was the DW Power Hour. Dionne Warwick and Diane Warren. Over, and over. This was the type of music even my mother would skip on the radio.

Every single song I heard has been stuck in my head at some point today. I tried listening to Journey. I tried listening to Def Leppard. I tried listening to Spice Girls, for goodness’ sake. Nothing seems to work.

So keep smiling, keep shining, knowing you can always count on me, for sure…

Edit: Lexcie just fixed the problem with “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”

PET/CT scan was clear, so my oncologist is considering it normal. There was activity in one of my neck’s lymph nodes, but since the cancer wasn’t there, he thinks it’s from all the sinus and allergy issues I’ve been having lately. I took some blood tests to be sure, but I’m positive that everything will come out just fine.  All is good! My next scan/oncology appointment will be in August.

I can’t believe that it’s almost been two years since I’ve been diagnosed already! Tempus fugit. At least it’s been good.

The nurse who took my blood this morning had a bad case of the hiccups. So I told her she had blood all down the leg of her pants. She began to freak out, and I said, “No, you really don’t have blood on your pants. But your hiccups are gone, aren’t they?” And sure enough, they were. She was absolutely amazed.

The scare tactic was a trick I learned from my Aunt Rita, God rest her soul. I had the worst case of hiccups when I was about 10 years old. She came up to me and said, “Amanda, after you left last time you visited, I noticed my favorite gold bracelet was missing from my jewelry box. You were the only one in my bedroom before I noticed it missing.”

I told her I didn’t touch her jewelry box, but she pressed on, saying that she knew I took the gold bracelet. I began to cry, then she laughed and said, “I know you didn’t take it, but your hiccups are gone, aren’t they?” And sure enough, they were. It’s the best trick to get rid of hiccups, but only works if the other person is not suspecting that you’re going to scare him.

“with your results,” quoteth my oncologist.

Yaknow what that means? CLEAN SCANS! Woohoo!

Next week will be a year from when I finished chemotherapy. Most relapses of my specific cancer come within the first year, so I’m out of the danger zone!