Today I had my six-month follow-up visit with my surgeon, and he told me exactly what I wanted to hear: Since no cancer cells have shown up on my three-month or six-month scans, he is confident that (1) he removed all of the cancer cells during my surgery last November; and (2) there are no stray cancer cells anywhere else in my body.

He agrees with my oncologist that scheduling nine-month and one-year scans is a good idea, but he said he is officially diagnosing me as cancer-free. Oh, happy day!