The visit today.

We went up to Stanford today for Ashton's regular check up. He is doing wonderfully.
We got to talk about what these tests all mean for Ashton and his prognosis. His Dr.s informed us that this is the best place we can be in at this time.....not everyone has a clear MRI at this point, so Ashton is very lucky. His prognosis is better now...instead of it being 60-75%, it is more at the 75% range...which is excellent, I think. Those are just numbers anyway. His doctors all have very high hopes for him and seeing them and how positive they are just helps me feel so much better. I will still remain apprehensive....I will forever I think. This is not over by any means. We still have a long 6 month road of chemo to travel and then after that, who knows. Hopefully that will be the end but he will have to have MRI's every 3 months and I know those will be times of high anxiety. I know from talking to other people and from talking to the dr.s today that anxiety will be a big part of my life once those MRI's roll around. It is just so wonderful to get some good news, finally. In the beginning it seemed like every day there was more bad stuff to hear. Now I can finally breath a huge sigh of relief and know that for now, Ashton is OK.

I asked if I can officially say that Ashton is cancer free. The dr. told me that I can say there isn't any cancer that is detectable by them. She said "is there a cancer cell left floating around somewhere? We just don't know. That is why we do the chemo." That's fine with me!

I also asked about Ashton's left eye. His left side is still very weak, although it gets stronger each day, and his left eye is still turned in a bit. She said it should continue to get better but it might not ever get back to normal. She also said he may have some double vision or have some blurry spots. He hasn't complained about not seeing things clearly and I sure hope that isn't the case. But, if that's all we have to worry about in the future, again, that's alright with me.

We start Chemo March 1oth. Ashton (and I) will be admitted for a 2 night stay and leave on the 3rd day of his 28 day cycle. On day 8 we have to come in for him to get just a small syringe of chemo, which takes a few seconds. After that, its just clinic visits each week until we start all over again with the next 28 day cycle. Each month will be the same....2 night say over and a little chemo on day 8. This will go on until about September. Please continue to think of Ashton and pray that he gets through this chemo alright. Hearing loss will be a big side effect so please keep those positive vibes coming...we appreciate it all!