Six-month PET scan results: cancer free!

Yesterday, I went in for my six-month post-chemo PET scan and already got the results back:  I remain cancer-free!  Not even the tiniest sign of malignancy.  I do have an appointment on the books with my oncologist on April 14th, but it remains to be seen if I’ll be able to keep that appointment.  Perhaps, we’ll have a teleconference, at the least.  I’d like to find out if my next scan will be in three months or six.  I’m sure I’ll remain on the Arimidex, and I’m never going to complain about it again, if it helps me maintain the status quo.

Good news like this is a bright moment during these surreal days of COVID-19.  All is currently well in the Moore household.  We’re all healthy and trying to keep busy.  I’m lucky that my husband Paul works in a necessary industry (they make paper products, like toilet paper), but he is able to do his job from home.  My son Allen is completing his university coursework online, at least for the remainder of this semester.  He wants to go to summer school and, like so many college students, hopes that he can return to campus for this.  Boyce is taking some time off from college, but he hopes to restart again in the fall...again, hopefully on campus and not on his computer at home.

For those of you living in other countries, I thought I’d give a little update on life in Snellville, Georgia.  Most small businesses have had to close for lack of clients and concerns about infection.  Large gathering spots like movie theaters, playgrounds, and churches have closed.  Grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, and some restaurants remain open.  Restaurants that are open are for curbside pickup or delivery only.  The shelves at the grocery stores are not well-stocked, especially not for canned goods, meats, and the ever elusive toilet paper.  Our supply lines are well in place, but people are buying frantically, creating the effect of shortages.

We used to eat out a lot, and that has certainly changed.  One of my main tasks is food requisition and preparation.  However, dinner has become the highlight of the day.  I’m a reasonably good (though sometimes reluctant) cook, and my family has enjoyed finding out what each night’s offering is going to be.  We sit around the table — not in front of the television watching Jeopardy — and have conversation.  Today, I was reminded of a time when the boys were six (that’s 13 years ago), when I began reading them a chapter a night after dinner of Harry Potter.  I think I’m going to restart this tradition.  I enjoy reading aloud, and I’m going to search our bookshelves to find something suitable that we’ll get into.  Something fictional and engrossing, with lots of characters I can give voice to.  Feel free to offer suggestions.

In the meantime, please keep the health of a dear friend of mine in your thoughts and prayers.  She’s having to go through chemotherapy a third time in the midst of a pandemic.  Her immune system is very unstable due to the chemo, and she needs all good juju you can muster right now.

I also want to take just a few moments to let all reading this entry to know how much you all mean to me...close relatives and friends down the chain to acquaintances I’ve never met.  These are uncertain times.  I encourage all of you to take a few minutes to get in touch with those you love and tell them what they mean to you.

I love you all.