dear mrs Parisher, '
"dead cancer"is not a very normal term in medicine. Most likely it refers to visible remants of a tumour that seem to be without living tumorcells; one might think of fibrotic femains. The problem with medical diagnostic accuracy is that it is impossible to proof the absence of living cancer cells. I presume yo have been treated by an oncologist with experience in chondrosarcomas. He, and his radiologist, probably can male statements like: 'with such an image, it is our experience that such and such percentage of patients remains disease free. Als, thay are the ones to advise you about follow up schedules. Not infrequently, they will adhere to nationally or internationally established guidelines.

To my knowledge, with chondrosarcoma there is no possibility to follup tumor markers; as one often can do with breast-, colon- or ovarian tumours. There are some markers for diagnostic purposes in chonrosarcoma, but that is a different matter.

Though unusual and not currently embodied in the texts and framework of medicine, there have been some reports about patients having dreams at night, that turned out to accurately reflect their physical condition. Dreams may, also, reflect coping processes, fears etc., but they may be indicative of a physical problem. Sometimes they suggest activities that are relevant to the problem. So, in my view, I would watch this sort of images and information as well.

Sincerely,
Johannes N. Schilder, MD, PhD
Psychodramatherapist NVGP
www.thedutchdoctor.nl