Gina, I know your head must be spinning right now. I know when I was first diagnosed it was a rough period for me. Just trying to learn all the medical jargon and wrap my head around the idea I was not invincible was hard.

I have seen Stage I patients died and many Stage IV patients survive. Ive been both. Yes, what your doc said is correct. Its not possible for the doctors to know if one teeny tiny cell which is much too small to light up on any scan or visible to the naked eye was missed. So once you became a cancer patient, you really never know if you are cured or are walking around sick. Thats a very hard thing for people to understand, especially when there are doctors who tell their patients "you are cancer free". When I first got sick, I spent 4 hours speaking to my radiation oncologist and his top nurse. We talked and talked and when I walked out of there I had absorbed an incredible amount of info. I finally realized that when I got cancer, I would always have it and it could come back at any time. That scared me to death. But I also realized that there was not one darn thing I could do about that situation. I had a choice, I could sit around paralyzed by fear of the unknown or move on with my life and make the most of every day. Nobody is promised to have a tomorrow. I learned to stop procrastinating and stop worrying about what the future holds. All of this took alot of time to learn. It really sunk in when I was diagnosed with my third round of OC in 2009.

PET scans are known for false positives. It could be cancer or it could be just an inflammation. Will they be doing any further testing of the nodes? Since you had nodes light up your doc should be doing a neck dissection to removed them. The disease will go down the line if it has spread to the nodes and your doctors can remove them and check. Most times if the first couple light up, the doc will take several more to be safe.

The very best things you can do is to find the best medical care you can, be your own advocate, learn about your disease, and put your trust in your doctors. A patient who has no hope will have a more difficult time. There have been studies about positive thinking. It really does help the patient by thinking positively.

Hang in there, Gina! We are all in your corner rooting for you