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Jen's Blog Part 5
It's good to be back home in my own bed with Roxie by my side! These last couple of weeks have been very recharging and much needed! After nearly 10 months of talking on Skype, my boyfriend, Jirar came back from Russia to visit. Only two more months before he's home for good!

After a year on this journey, I had my first bit of good news. With one disappointment stacked upon another, I was a little skeptical. My friend Luke and I starting pondering what the good news might be... "Good news! Your chemo is ready for you!" or "We have a specialist that will only poke you once for your IV instead of three times!" Turns out, it really was good news!!

But...

When I had my ultrasound on Friday, the tech was trying to re-create the images from my previous ultrasound. She was having difficulty, so she called in the tech who did my last exam, who then called the doctor. I had three ultrasounds in one sitting and, man, was my underarm sore! The 'problem' was that they couldn't find the tumor.

A candid moment snapped by a stranger who saw Jen and Jirar dancing.

They couldn't find it because it's no longer there! The other tumor around my clavicle also showed some positive response. Some lymph nodes shrank while others showed no change. There's a new suspicious lymph node in my chest wall, but they aren't too worried about it since they're seeing a positive response to this chemo regime.

The plan is to continue with six cycles of chemo with testing in Houston every other cycle. With all the good news, there is one 'but…..' We're seeing a positive response to this chemo, but triple negative breast cancer has been known to show positive results and then just stop responding, which is why we'll continue testing. The good news to that "but" is that if it decides to stop working, there are plenty of clinical trials available. I have to admit I'm a bit bummed about having chemo again through the New Year, but I gotta do what I gotta do, right?

This will also be the second year that I'll be receiving chemo in Houston as a birthday present. Even though it makes me feel like crap, it gave me another year of life and for that, I'm truly grateful. I think a celebration is in order! Maybe the weekend after Thanksgiving, before my birthday in Houston....who's in?

Jen with Jirar		Jen shares a happy moment with her boyfriend, Jirar.