Chemo #8 - Done, Done, Done Done!!!!!!!!

On November 18 when I started chemo, the end of February seemed VERY far away.   They say "the days are long but the years are short" and that has been so true with this experience.  Some days were incredible wrong and hard, but now that I made it, I realize that 3 months is a relatively short period of time in the grand scheme of things.

I got a picture with my awesome chemo nurse, Mary-Beth:

(There is a bow and a sticker "It's party time!) on the chemo bag.)

Dr. Sinclair and I talked about next steps.  I'll go in for a follow up appointment with her in 2 weeks so she can check my counts (mostly iron) before deciding when to start the ovarian suppression.  The suppression will obviously totally mess with my hormones and make me tired, so she doesn't want to bombard me during radiation (which also makes people tired), especially if my iron is so low.  (Bought some spinach on the way home from chemo to help with my counts!). Once my ovaries are suppressed, I'll star taking Femara.  This is not the drug that was in the study I had found a few weeks ago.  That other drug and Femara have almost the same success rates but Femara seems easier to tolerate. I'll be on it for at least 5 years and maybe 10.  At some point I'll consider removing my one remaining ovary to avoid the every 3 months shots.  I can't handle the idea of surgery right now so that is a later thing. 

Chemo itself was the usual.  At the end, Mary-Beth presented me with the following certificate. I gave her a huge hug and started bawling.  Mary-Beth definitely made a horrible situation a little bit better. I'll still see her at the support group and for my ovarian suppression shots.

I'll feel officially done with chemo by the beginning of next week when I am through the worst of the side effects.  I meet with the radiation oncologist on Friday and get the port out next Tuesday. Woohoo!

Chemo #7 Done

I finished second to last chemo treatment on Wednesday.   My Mom flew up the Friday before and will be with us for three weeks, which is a HUGE help.  Craig was traveling for part of this week and will be working a lot for the rest of the month so it is nice to have the company. 

The treatment itself went fine.  We met with Dr. Sinclair first and I talked about some of the side effects I have been having - blurry vision, sore jaw, joint and bone pain, and neuropathy (tingling and numbness in my fingers and feet).  All are normal for Taxol.   We also talked about post-chemo treatment - radiation (which will start March 11) and hormone therapy/ovarian suppression.   It is still TBD when I will start that.  She wants to give me some time to recover from chemo as shutting down my ovaries will yield its own unpleasant side effects.  We might even wait until after our June trip to Hawaii to get that process started. 

Three days out, I feel ok.  I had the usual neulasta back and neck bone pain yesterday, which was no fun.  Today, I'll feel more joint pain in my legs.    Craig and I are hopefully headed out to dinner tonight with friends, as long as the latest snow storm does not mess up our plans.  Thanks to Mom for babysitting!

Two weeks from now I will be done with chemo treatments!!!!

Happy day!

Thank you to the New England Patriots for winning the Super Bowl in rather dramatic fashion last night. It mad Craig and Raymond VERY happy and the universe owed them some joy amidst all the crap we have been going through as a family these last few months. We watched most of the game at a friend's house but Raymond was a bit tired, having gone to the Bruins game on Saturday night, so he and I came home before the game was over and watched the rest of it together.  It was a fun moment to share with him and I took this picture right after the thrilling end of the game.   Wow, my head is shiny!   ;)

I'm still pretty achy from last week's Taxol treatment but this feeling is better than the complete exhaustion and nausea from the AC treatments.  Only 2 more to go!   I finish THIS MONTH.   February seemed so far way when I started in November. 

Once chemo is done, it appears things will move pretty quickly.   I'll get the port out ASAP and I think I am starting radiation on March 11.   That means I will be done with this phase of treatment by the end of April.  Maybe we could have gone to Disney World as planned in May but Hawaii will be a much more special trip for us.  Of course I am starting to be a little scared for post-treatment life and how I keep the cancer fear at bay but it will be nice to not have life revolve around how I am feeling in a chemo cycle.