rmd | life is good

short form: i still don't have cancer anymore. so far.

so, i had a CAT scan the other day (for me, not the cats) and got the results today. everything looks great. i'll continue to have followup bloodwork and i'll probably have another CAT scan in a year or so. i'll get more bloodwork done, although the CA-125 test isn't actually a *screening* test so much as one possible diagnostic factor to watch.

(the CA-125 looks for markers associated with ovarian cancer. however, ovarian cancer doesn't necessarily trigger the marker (i don't know offhand if it's that some people don't generate the marker or that some varieties of ovarian cancer don't generate the marker or both), so the definitive test is to do a CAT scan. so we'll keep doing those, probably on an annual basis for a few years, and keep watching CA-125 results to make sure they don't trend upwards. right now, my CA-125 results are low enough that they can fit underneath a cockroach's belly, so that's all good.)

note to self: after CAT scans, remember to drink a lot of water to flush out whatever the fuck is in that contrast. i didn't and was kind of oogy for a day or so.