so much to say!

What a day! I am flooded with good stuff to share and a bit overwhelmed by how to even start. Note to self: Take one thing at a time and do it in pieces. It was thrilling to get out of the hospital and exhilarating to wash the "hospital cooties" off after a 7 day hospital stay. Mike put on "real" clothes for our 1pm appointment with Dr. Bruce Haughey. Within seconds after warmly greeting us Dr. Haughey said "Let's jump to the pathology report." We learned that THE CANCER WAS SUCCESSFULLY CLEARED FROM THE PRIMARY SITE -MARGINS WERE ALL CLEAR - THERE WERE NO UNFAVORABLE FEATURES - and there were 4 NODES WHICH IS WHAT THEY USUALLY FIND WITH THIS KIND OF CANCER. We learned that that "lower lymph node" was not back in level 5 like we thought and was actually in level 3 with the others and was p16 positive like the rest. (Just trust me, this is good news.) The bottom line: This is all the news we needed to support our decision to NOT have additional radiation or chemotherapy, and we are celebrating that WE ARE BASICALLY DONE WITH OUR TREATMENT! We will follow-up with Dr. Haughey every 2-3 months for 2 years to keep a close watch on things. We came to Dr. Haughey in the first place because he thinks outside the radiation box. Today he shared that most cancer institutions would recommend add'l radiation and chemotherapy for 4 lymph nodes and capsular spread, but Dr. Haughey believes that the data that supports this is outdated. Dr. Haughey has new findings - hot off the press - that will be announced in Chicago in two weeks. He said "People would say that I am going out on a limb but I have to be honest with the data." Bruce believes (as do we) that when the cancer can be successfully cleared from the primary site and there are no p16 negative cells, that radiation & chemotherapy can be more detrimental than healthy. Bruce said "Your desire for NO RADIATION OR CHEMOTHERAPY is not an unreasonable approach." He said this because 1.) he is very happy about how the neck dissection went, 2.) there were no aggressive features at the primary site, and like we said 3.) the cancer was very successfully cleared from the primary site with WIDELY CLEAR MARGINS. Our plan: Make our appointment with Dr. Haughey in two months and be about the business of leading a healthy, happy life. Hallelujah.