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!