LAST CHEMO IS TODAY!

Today is my last chemo. I can’t wait to be done. I am definitely weaker now and that is frustrating. But, considering everything, I am doing really great. I am having a great response to the chemo. My cancer has shrunk significantly.  So, all is good. And, even though I am pretty tired, I have worked full time (except for the actual days of chemo and the weekend following chemo). With each round so far, I have gone back to work the next day (on Friday) and met with clients and put in a full day. And, with most chemo rounds, I was working from home – laptop in bed – on Monday. I would work a little bit, rest a little bit, work a little bit and rest a little bit.  Fortunately, my work doesn’t require much physically. I am writing mostly. But, this last chemo round was not so easy.  I did get anemic and wow, I could really feel that.  I still feel it, although it feels as though I have improved in that regard (I will know when I see my blood work tomorrow morning).

What a crazy ride this has been. From incompetent doctors and a near death experience to the most amazing people showing up in my life in ways I could not have imagined they would, helping me in ways that I would not have expected. I don’t know what to say, except that I am so incredibly grateful for the latter part of course, not the incompetent doctors or the near death experience) 🙂 I am grateful for the incredible support of my family, friends, and new friends and I am so grateful for having only one more chemo left. (If you have read prior posts, you will see that Dr. Gloom had told me that I might need more chemo after surgery. But, I have since met with a specialist who specializes in my specific type of breast cancer and she has made it very clear that I will not receive more chemo).  My current oncologist is a general oncologist (not a breast cancer oncologist).  He deals with all types of cancer and just doesn’t really understand the treatment protocol for my type of breast cancer. Thankfully he follows whatever UCLA says he should do. But, in the interim he comes up with some wacky comments and doesn’t really seem to know how to filter what he is saying (as in he ought to really know what he is talking about before he talks . . . this is the same guy who argued with me about how may chemo rounds I had received . . . aaargh).

Anyway, this one is my last. So grateful for that.

I am bracing myself for the possibility that the sixth round may be as difficult as the fifth and, or, I suppose, could be worse. But, it could also be a lot easier (which is what I am really hoping and even expecting – why not? My third and fourth chemos were by far easier than my first two).  In either case, I am prepared and will recover and do well.

Okay, this post seems a little whinier than most. I am still going to post it.  But, I will do a follow up that is less whiny 🙂

Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support. I so greatly appreciate it!

Tags: breast cancer, chemo, chemotherapy, red blood count, treatment