It has been quit a while since my last official update, but I have been trying to use more frequent updates in the "Where's Darien" section rather than write a long one. This update merely tries to provide more information on alpha-fetoprotein. (I've included Darien's AFP chart - see above link - so everyone can see what we have been tracking the past several months. Every time they took a blood sample for an AFP test, it was nerve racking waiting for the results wondering whether the AFP would go up or continue to decrease.) I've had numerous questions regarding what it means now that Darien's AFP level is now within the normal range. To be honest, all I know is that it means that she doesn't have any new tumor growth in her liver. This is good news and what Valerie and I have suspected, but it has taken a while for the AFP to work out of Darien's blood system, which is normal. What the AFP won't detect (I think) are metastatic tumors to other sites (for example, her lungs). I think these have to be visually observed by x-rays, which at the present they don't see anything. Thus, for the first time, one of the doctors has used the term "remission." They will continue to test for the AFP marker and take x-rays every 6 to 8 weeks in the near term. She will also continue chemotherapy for at least 1 year. So far, Darien has had 8 treatments and will begin her 9^th after halloween. Darien is basically a normal 3^rd grader, with the exception of missing school every once in a while for a treatment and fever. She is late to school a few times each week because she gets her blood tested in College Station early in the morning. The teachers and other kids work around this. She takes dance (tap, ballet, jazz, and lyrical), plays soccer, takes piano, and is in Brownies. She also runs 1 to 2 miles each week on their running day in P.E. at school. Needless to say, she continues to be very active.