The "R" Word!

We've travelled a hard path for the last 7 months.  Melinda's initial diagnosis of small-cell lung cancer was a shock, but we jumped into the battle without hesitation.  We've done everything Dr. Garland has wanted us to do, and she has an aggressive outlook on treatments.  We know there is no cure for small-cell, but today we finally heard the word, brought on by yesterday's PET scan, the definitive measure of her cancer.  When Sandy, Dr. Garland's nurse first called this morning, Melinda thought there must be bad news, until she said the radiologist report said "continued complete metabolic response to treatment", in other words, there was no detectable cancer activity!  When Melinda first dared ask if her cancer was in remission, Sandy confirmed that was the case!  HAPPY DAY!  She still has a week of the full-brain radiation to zap the microscopic cells that may or may not be in her brain, but when we see Dr. Garland on Monday, we're expecting confirmation of Sandy's news leak, more details and likely get to see some images too.  At that time she'll go over the schedule for continued long-term monitoring for a possible return.  While we've hoped for good news, it looks that it has finally arrived, and it is time to celebrate. 

Addendum: For those interested in the tech speak, from the radiology report:

IMPRESSION:
Complete response to therapy. The primary right pulmonary hilar mass and paratracheal lymphadenopathy are no longer identified. No new FDG avid disease is identified.