Krista-"L" Clear

(Sometimes people think my name is Crystal, because "Krista" sounds close enough to it, that they are almost interchangeable. In fact, one of my birthday gifts was a beautiful Swarovski crystal figurine of a girl, and I started calling it the Swarovski Krista.)

Anyway, good news on the MRI front today. I am crystal (or Krista-L) clear today. In fact, my oncologist even said that there is improvement. Other previous areas of interest have cleared up, and prior inflammation is gone. And most importantly, it was another "knee-deep" scan: NEDP = No Evidence of Disease Progression. No new tumors so far (knock wood). And my neuro test was a breeze. I didn't have to count backward today (but I did anyway). I got a new test today, which was easy: spell "world" backwards. (Close your eyes and try it without looking at the word.) I also proved once again that I am very sober and capable of walking a straight line like a supermodel on the catwalk (the only thing about me that even remotely resembles a supermodel). Which brings me to the only bad news I received: 97 days of daily exercise didn't really reflect on the scale, although I was at least able to show off the loose waistband on my pants.

Not in the death spiral yet, thank goodness. (And there was no ironic deadly car accident on the way home, either!) In fact, it was really nice to hear my doctor talk to me about how they do things during the second year of this process. I was just so darn happy to be able to talk about a second year of anything, as though it were actually realistic to consider instead of being some kind of medical oddity. My doctor smiled and said that there are some treatments that are working really well with her patients, even if the Temodar stops working (which is not my problem so far - knock wood). Speaking of Temodar, I start that up again on Monday for my five-day, high-dose "maintenance" regimen this month.

As has been the case before, the MRI process itself was very comfortable and easy to handle. I felt very calm and reassured that no matter what, everything was okay, and I swear it is because I was once again floating on prayers today. I really appreciate everyone's prayers on my behalf, which helped both the outcome and the ease of the process leading to the outcome.