3 month scans.....6 months out from Ipi (Yervoy) completion

Wow!  What a day today was!  Steven and I had to be at MD Anderson at 9 am.  We got Sadie off to school on the school bus and dropped Ashlynn off at daycare.  We showed up to MD Anderson about 20 minutes late....whoops!  Luckily, they accommodate for traffic, over sleeping, not leaving in time, alarm not going off, whatever your excuse may be! 

Steve had a CT of his neck and we were off to his 11:00 appointment with Dr. Kim.  We checked in for his 11am appointment and they also checked us in for his 11:45 dermatology appointment.  Since Steve had to fast for his CT scan, I ran down stairs and grabbed us Chik Fil A while he waited in case they called him.  (They didnt).  We got called back around noon for his dermatology appointment (even though his appointment for CT results was technically before the derm appointment).  We waited almost 2 hours before the dermatologist came in.  Thankfully we brought our computers to keep us entertained while we waited! 

Steve waiting on dermatology to come in.

Steve has never really had a dermatology appointment.  He had one back in February of 2012, but since he was being admitted the same day for biochemotherapy, the dermatologist didn't take any biopsies.  At this appointment, the dermatologist did a very thorough body check (body, feet, scrotum, rectum, scalp, etc.).  She decided that 2 spots needed to be biopsied.  One spot was too big for a punch biopsy, so she did a "shave" biopsy.  The other spot she did a 8mm punch biopsy.  I get to take Steve's sutures out in 2 weeks.  Fun fun.

Spot "A" and spot "B"

After the dermatology appointment, we headed down to room 15.  You know, the room they told us to go to when we were finished with dermatology?!  Yeah, the guy sitting on the table in his gown probably didn't appreciate me walking in!  Haha!  Whoops!  Anyhow, we got put in a room to wait for Dr. Kim.  While we waited for Dr. Kim, Urvi, Dr. Kim's PA came in.  She immediately let us know that the scans looked great.  We went over scan results and she said that the abdominal CT scans showed no metastatic disease.  The MRI showed no metastatic disease.   The neck CT scan was not back yet, but they assumed no metastatic disease from the preliminary results. 

This was GREAT news for us!  This is the BEST news we could hope for today.  There is NO cure for melanoma, but you can live with "no evidence of disease" or "NED" for some time.  Some people stay "NED" for only months and others for years.  So, only time will tell.

After a fun, silly visit with Urvi, Dr Kim came in.  Dr. Kim confirmed "NED" and we had a good visit with him as well.  I love how Dr. Kim will sit and play my "well what if...." games.  "Well what if we would have come today and the scan would have showed X...."  "and what if it showed Y" and "what if XYZ"?  "What if we come in 3 months and the scans show X"?   He doesn't shut me up, he just goes along and answers my questions.  I sure love Dr. Kim.

After leaving MD Anderson, we needed to rush back to our side of town to get Sadie from Pep Squad practice.  Apparently it was raining while we were inside and the roads were flooded!  It was crazy trying to get out onto the freeway!   We made it with 1 minute to spare to get Sadie, picked up Ashlynn and went to dinner to celebrate "NED".  We even let the kids get dessert (which we never do)!  

Crazy "flood" drivers.

Nothing like trying to get home in a hurry!

Too much water!

Dessert!

Daddy and Sadie

Meet "NED"

We are so happy that Steve is NED!  We are also VERY realistic to the fact that there is NO cure for melanoma.  Steve can be NED 5 years or 5 days.  The melanoma can reappear at any moment.  But today, we celebrate NED.  We celebrate being the BEST you can be while fighting melanoma. 

Thank you to everyone for your love, prayers, and support. You're the best!!! 

Peace, Love, Cure Melanoma!