Tomorrow will be my last chemo treatment! I’ve ordered a chocolate chip cookie cake from Publix to take to the doctor’s office…the nurses and everyone there have been great, and I want to celebrate!
I’m hoping I won’t need another Neulasta shot, but it’s nice to know this will be the last treatment. My hair will start to grow back, I can paint my nails again, and hopefully this cough will go away since one of the things I lost is my nose hair! (They don’t tell you that one.)
I’ve learned that you can get very chilled if the back of your neck isn’t covered, so at work I try to wear scarves that drape down my back. I’ve learned it’s nice to have crafty friends, since I’ve gotten a handmade quilt and lovely knitted hats. I’ve had friends who’ve asked if they can wear a pink bracelet or mention me when they go to run in a Race for the Cure event. I’ve learned from my Pink Ribbon Ladies support group that breast cancer survivors are a bunch of tough broads who know EXACTLY what you’re going through. I’ve learned I can lay in bed and rest and not feel guilty for being “lazy.” Throughout the chemo, I’ve missed very little work (just what I’ve needed to take off for the treatments) and I’ve hit the gym when I can. I’ve tried to keep the cancer as a thing that’s happening, not the center of my universe.
Cancer has taught me not to sweat the small stuff. Irritations at work that used to send me around the bend elicit nothing more than a “meh” now. I have more important things to worry about.
I’ve learned that cancer, caught early enough, is nothing more than a chapter in your life. Last night I watched Living Proof on Lifetime (and I never watch Lifetime!) The movie is about Dr. Dennis Slamon, the researcher who discovered Herceptin, which targets and treats Her-2 positive tumors. This amazing breakthrough happened only 10 years ago! Who knows what they’ll come up with in the next 10 years!
Next I have radiation, but I don’t know when I’ll start that. But Phase 2 is done, moving on the Phase 3!
If you can, please visit www.thebreastcancersite.com. This site offers free mammograms and all you need to do is click it once a day. The sponsors fund everything else.
Keep going, Ivylass we’re all pulling for you. It sounds like the chemo has gone about as well as can be expected. I hope the radiation therapy is even easier for you.
A minor geek brag - I visit The Breast Cancer site, and the other five affiliated web pages, every single day. And a second time when I’m at work. I figure they’re counting unique hits by IP address, so there is no point in exercising their servers more than that. The thirty second exercise of clicking on those web sites makes me feel like a charitable person, which helps me with my self-esteem issues. A win-win, in other words.
Yaaay for being done with chemo! I love your attitude, ivylass. We may disagree on political issues, but I really do consider you one of the “good” conservatives on the board, and I wish you a return to good health. And soon!
I’m freaked right the hell out by a friend’s upcoming treatment and I’d like to know what she’s in store for. I made her some hospital socks and I learned how to knit lace so that I can make her a matching hat that’s not too hot.
Well, the days of spending hours puking into a toilet are gone. I had no nausea, just a bit of queasiness, because they give you anti-nausea medicines now, both before and after.
If she’s anything like me, she’ll fall asleep, since one of the pre-meds they give me is Benadryl. The first thing they do is access your port and draw blood to make sure your blood levels are okay…if not, no chemo. Then, they hook you up to the IV and drip drip drip until it’s time to go home. I usually have a book with me or my knitting, but once the nurse hooks up the Benadryl it’s lights out for me! The nurses tease me about it too…“time to go to sleep now,” they’ll say.
I have to run now…feel free to PM me if you have any other questions.
