Carrie-Anne and I went to her final oncology appointment at MD Anderson in Houston yesterday so everybody could look at her one more time and officially declare her cancer-free. Her two doctors must have said half a dozen times, “You are cancer-free. Your cancer is history. You do not have any cancer anymore,” as if to reinforce it in both our brains and our souls. “According to your doctors here,” they said, “we know you do not have cancer. The only way to prove it, is for you to come in once a year for five years so we can document it. But you do not have cancer.” They said many times that Carrie-Anne is in the “good group,” the group the comes in only for routine checks to confirm what they already know: she is cured.

And we thank God.

To help us celebrate, the Rangers completed a wild card sweep of the Rays in Tampa to advance to the ALDS. The timing could not have been more perfect. Carrie-Anne’s last appointment was scheduled for 1:00pm. They took her at about 12:15pm instead. We returned the rental car, took the shuttle to the airport, checked in, went through security, ran to Buffalo Wild Wings, and were seated in front of a large TV before the end of the first inning. I was wearing a Rangers shirt and we were both openly cheering for Texas in the middle of enemy territory as they dominated Tampa Bay and won their first playoff series since the ALCS in 2011. C-A jumped to her feet when the final out was recorded, securing the Rangers win. And, yes, there was some grumbling among the B-Dubs patrons. More than a couple of people reminded us that, in Houston, they only celebrate World Series wins.

We stayed in the restaurant long enough to watch one post-game interview of Josh Jung, then hustled to our gate where they had just announced boarding. The timing could not have been better.

Carrie-Anne has one more procedure related to her reconstruction set for November 20 in Houston. It’s a day surgery, and we should be home the next evening or the Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving at the latest. And I don’t care who says it or how many times they keep saying it, I’ll never get tired of hearing people in white coats tell us she is cancer-free.

Peace,

Allan