If only I could dance

I am not a dancer because, well - basically because I have no rhythm. I used to play the piano, and sing a little. I guess that required some rhythmic ability, but it never required actual move-with-the-beat rhythm. When I was young I even tried to dance occasionally, but could never summon up the courage to really "let go" enough to learn to dance well. My husband on the other hand, has great rhythm, but thinks he doesn't so he won't even try to dance. (Now you know why we didn't dance at our wedding.)

But, you want to know a secret?
Sometimes we dance when no one is watching.

This morning we went to my appointment with the endocrine doctor. We got the news that we desperately wanted to hear. My cancer appears to have been confined to the tumor. This is not only good but could be considered great news. No visible spread means it was caught early.

We were discussing next steps, and the doctor said that while we are very optimistic that it was confined, there are no guarantees that the cancer hasn't spread elsewhere. Only time will reveal if it has spread, or will recur. Then he gave me the choice whether or not to go ahead with radioactive iodine therapy. I chose not to. From what I understand, there is no clear data confirming it will cause the cancer to be worse if we don't do it, so we can do iodine therapy later if it shows up somewhere else. I decided to take my chances.

Where do we go from here? Now the waiting game starts.

Next week I see my surgeon for a follow up, and six weeks from now I will have the first of many blood tests. There will be tests for tumor markers and some kind of other levels I don't quite understand. In six months I will have another ultrasound to create a new "baseline," to watch for changes in the lymph nodes.

So, there you have it. The news is as good as it can possibly be at this point. Am I still concerned? Of course I am. I just had my thyroid gland removed because it was cancerous. But I am filled with hope that it just might be gone.

If you peek in our window tonight, you might just see us waltzing around the house.