She will exhale

A3M has chosen me to be the focus patient for their new "Be the One" campaign. Here are a few professional photos taken of Marshawn and me for their media. He's totally stealing my spotlight, but isn't he just the cutest puppy ever? I am such a proud parent. :P

I had my bone marrow biopsy on Wednesday. Thanks pops for letting me squeeze your hand until my fingers went numb. The biopsy was a little more painful than the other 3 times. I have strong bones which is a good thing for osteoporosis, but a challenge for biopsies because it's hard to get inside of the bone to extract the marrow. (Have no fear potential marrow donors, you will be given general anesthesia when you donate so you won't feel, hear or see a thing.) I'll post more about biopsies later.

This entry is actually to celebrate fantastic news. My doctor emailed me today and said "The flow was negative for malignant cells. Congratulations!" What this means is that the sample of marrow that they took from me tested negative for cancer cells. They put my sample under a special fluorescent light machine to identify the various cells and see if there are any cancer cells. There was not a single cancer cell in my marrow.

Next week a pathologist will examine my sample to run other tests to confirm that I am cancer-free. My oncologist says that he's very confident that those results will come back negative as well.

I am so darn happy. My friends and family are always saying, "Don't worry, we know the cancer is gone. You are fine." However, I felt like I was in a holding pattern until my biopsy results finally confirmed the good news. And now I feel soooo relieved. I feel like this big weight has been lifted from my chest and I can start moving on. Seriously, if it weren't raining so hard outside, I would do a jig in the middle of the street.

Right after I got my doctor's email. I scheduled a 10-day trip to Spain with my best friends for the end of February. I called my wonderful manager and Human Resources to confirm my return to work date (around March 10th). And I'm waiting for my doctor's response to figure out when I can get a surgeon to remove my groshong catheter. (Who wants to go rock climbing with me when I get this thing out???)

However, this doesn't change my determination to find a potential match for me and other patients. I know that I could relapse at any given minute and I am not going to take this 2nd chance for granted. I want to make a difference. I am determined to set up more successful drives and to reach out to communities we have not worked with in the past.

Thanks a million to all of your prayers and warm wishes. I couldn't have done it without all of your support. We did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!