In my experience, cancer treatment centers around scans. CT Scans, MRI's and PET Scans. No matter what treatment approach is used – surgery, radiation, chemotherapy – after the fact, the scans tell whether it worked. The scans look deep into the body to see if any cancer is left. Problem is, no scan can see a single cancer cell; there have to be millions of cells clustered together before a scan can detect cancer. Since scans don't alert us until after cancer has taken root, they must be scheduled every few months. We hold our breath from scan to scan.

Corinne's first full set of scans since the diagnosis last summer was scheduled for the week we returned from our Christmas hiatus. The next one would be in mid-spring, after radiation treatment was completed.

Corinne went in for the scans on a Tuesday and had an appointment to hear the results from her medical oncologist the next Tuesday.