What is remission?

In just a few weeks, it will be 10 years since Adrienne was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease. Since then, she's had quite a few remissions, the longest was more more than three years and the shortest was just a few months. We've learned that "remission" means that the disease doesn't show on scans but it doesn't mean that Adrienne is cured. It means that we have a time without worry until the next surprise greets us.

Lately I've been thinking about what 10 years has meant to us. For Adrienne, it's been 16 different chemos in six different protocols, over 100 days of radiation, an autologous stem cell transplant, an allogenic stem cell transplant, graft vs. host disease, nine surgeries, tons of procedures, and too many days inpatient and outpatient to count. Long term, she has cardiomyopathy, restrictive lung disease, avascular necrosis, ovarian failure, and now thyroid failure. Yet, she still lives a relatively normal life as a college coed with a full load of classes, a job, and plenty of social activities.

For us as parents, it's meant many tears and countless hours of worry. We've spent weeks at the computer trying to learn about treatments that might help, talking with doctors all over the world, and simply praying for a cure. And so often, I remind myself how lucky we are to have met so many wonderful people, doctors and nurses, and patients and their families. People ask me all the time how I do it, how do I deal with having a child with cancer. My response is always, "we do what we have to do." I wouldn't change anything just knowing Adrienne is still here with us.