Endings

This past Monday I had my last chemo. Hopefully ever.

Mom sitting with me at chemo

It was really short. I couldn't have one of my regular chemo medicines. It causes temporary lung damage, which I've experienced too much of. It shouldn't be too big of a thing though.

It was a little bittersweet. I'm so glad to be finished, and I'm ready to get on with my life. It was sad though. Over the past 6 months I've gotten to know my nurses and it's sad having good people leave your life.

It's also scary. For 6 months my main goal has been getting better. The nurses gave me my schedule for the month, and a lot of my decisions were made my doctors. Especially things like what over the counter medicines can I take? What can I eat? A lot of my life has been ruled by cancer. Now I'm facing down making my own choices again, going back to work, and generally living life.

It's exciting, but it's scary! I was up and down emotional for a week (a lot of you may know I don't deal with major change all that well, which might also be a factor).

I still have next week for my food restrictions. My doctor told me I can go back to regular food sooner, but the instructions on the medicine said two weeks, and I'd rather play it safe.

It seems I've avoided a blood transfusion this cycle, which is great. My red blood cells were a little low, but not low enough to be a problem. My white blood cells, however, are another story. They were extremely low, so much so that my neutrafils (white blood cells that fight bacteria) didn't even show up on the chart. So I've been in "quarrantine" this weekend. Luckily my neulasta shot will probably kick in tomorrow night and I can go back to normal.

I don't know exactly where we go from here. I do know that just because chemo is over, it doesn't mean that my treatment is over. I will still have to see my oncologist and get a lot of scans and stuff. On Monday I see him to get my blood checked, and find out what the next steps are.

I know I have to get a bone density test. One of the side effects of the chemo has caused some probable bone issues, so I have to see if I need treatment for that. I also need to get a third PET Scan in about 4 weeks. If all is well then I can get my port removed, which I can't wait for!

Also, my hair has started to grow back! I've got little fuzzies all over my head which is super exciting. I can't wait 'till I can get my first haircut :)

So the chemo's over, but I'll still be posting updates as they come. Thanks for all the love and support and prayers, you guys really helped me get through this!

Home Stretch!

Last week was rough. Two weeks ago my red blood count was low. I didn't feel super sick, but I was exhausted. Constantly. I was on the border of needing a transfusion and not, but we decided to hold out and see what happened, since I was borderline and felt ok.

Last Monday was the same deal, and I was going to have my blood tested again on Thursday. I spent Tuesday pretty much asleep, and slept for 12 hours that night.

Wednesday I woke up, got up and was extremely dizzy, I knew I needed more blood. Josh called the doctor to see if I could get my blood tested that day and we set that up. One of the lead nurses called me and said since I had my blood taken on Monday they could just set me up for a transfusion and bypass more testing. I said great. She then told me that the hospital didn't have anything available till Friday. If i didn't feel like I could wait I could go to the emergency room.

I decided I couldn't wait, and I'd go to the emergency room. It turned into a one night stay, and the whole thing was sort of a debacle that I don't really want to talk about. The biggest highlights being the fact that it took 5 tries to access my port, and they decided to give me an IV anyway, and the prisoner wearing NOTHING but a hospital gown who kept passing my second room to get to the bathroom.

I felt so much better after getting more blood. Let's hope that was the final time.

Onto better news...

Yesterday I started my FINAL round of chemo!!! I am just tickled about this. It's really exciting and I cant believe it's finally here! Mom has been taking pictures of me with all my caregivers, which has felt like the end of Summer camp, when you get pictures of all your friends. I may post them up here for you guys.

I'm really happy that the weather is so beautiful for my final chemo rounds, and that spring is starting right when ai'm starting my new life as a healthy person.

An Introduction!

Well, no one wants to be diagnosed with cancer 2 weeks after their wedding (what a way to end a honeymoon), but here we are. While the news was terribly upsetting, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma which is very treatable. Unlike other cancers, there aren't any tumors with Hodgkin's, you get little infected nodules and lymph nodes. Since the cancer was in stage 4 when we found it I am on a pretty aggressive treatment plan, which has put me out of commission for a lot of things. The worst of which is the food restrictions!! Just when I thought my wedding diet was over with! But if I have to go 6 months without caffene, chocolate, or aged cheese to be healthy then that's what I'm going to do!

If you don't know the whole story, I've had a chronic cough since March of 2010. It's been diagnosed as everything from a sinus infection, to asthma, to acid reflux, to stress, and back to a sinus infection. After countless doctors apointments and exams, my ENT, Dr. Shimoura found lymph nodes on my neck were extremely swollen, and ordered a CT Scan of them, as well as my sinuses (we were gearing up for the possibility of sinus surgery). He decided to throw in a CT Scan of my chest while I was getting everything done anyway.

Boy I'm glad he did, because they found lumps in my chest. Everything after that was a whirlwind. Dr Shimoura got me in to see an Oncologist he knew that day. We were in his office and he said "he'll see you in 20 minutes, go!" And before there was time to think about it, I had a lymph node removed, and was given my diagnoses.

The lymph node surgery was barely healed when I had my port installed. For those who don't know, a port is something they give to some chemo patients when they have to receive treatment often. It connects right to a vein and stays under my skin, below my collar bone so I don't have to put my veins under the stress of repeated needle usage.

Well, the day after my port was installed I had my first day of chemo. All of this was terrifying, but I had my parents and my husband by my side. 

The chemo hasn't been terrible so far. It has caused a huge amount of fatigue, and I usually end up napping after treatment. I've only had one bout of nausea (let's hope it's the last), and have been doing pretty well. This week was suppposed to be pretty rough, because it's such a system shock, and I'm feeling confident about going through this.

The treatment I'm receiving has been fantastic. Everyone at my oncologist's office is friendly and super helpful, and they already know who I am, which is good because we're going to be seeing a lot of each other in the future.