Well, our last chemo was delayed by a day for those who didn't see it on my Facebook page that day. We went in on Monday December 28th with my "last chemo" sign made and all lol... They stuck my port and hooked me up to fluids. Then about twenty minutes later the nurse comes in to tell us one of my chemotherapy drugs didn't come in. I was being as polite as possible, trying to fight back tears (just because I was SO excited to be done) but Jamie's face said it all. He was PISSED to be quit honest and the nurses new it. I mean because someone, somewhere did mess up. The drug should of been there. I mean how that happens I don't even know, sure mistakes happen, but in the whole six months we never had that issue. Someone forgot to put the order in.
So they kept me tapped (meaning the needle in my port with the tubing connected so I didn't have to be poked a second time the next day (hoping the drug would be in on the 29th), they had to bandage it all up so I had this huge patch of tape and stuff all over my chest. I mean I totally know it was just "another day" but it still felt like a huge let down because trust me, you know that feeling you get when you hate going to the doctors or dentist, the extreme uneasy feeling some people get? Well I got that every time (for SIX months) with chemo because, well there's a list probably longer then this entry of reasons why I dreaded it. So all that I had to go through all over again the next day, but whats one more day when you know it's the last? It's was just definitely a mix of emotions.
So we left and actually the day turned out wonderful, Jamie and I picked up Logan at my mother in laws and Jamie took us up to Yankee Candle in Massachusetts to do a little shopping and we had wonderful lunch. He made the day so much better. :)
The nurse called us around 4:30pm that evening on our way home from MA and said the drug would be arriving that next morning so we could come in for my last treatment on the 29th! I just had to change my 28 to a 29 on my chemo sign. Lol thank goodness it was possible!
We got to my last treatment around 9:30am. While we were waiting to go back for my treatment I had a lady ask me about our shirts, she seen the purple ribbon on them and asked if that was for Hodgkins Lymphoma? I said yes and told a briefing of my story and she told me she had Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and she was also doing well with treatment, we then got interrupted by the nurse coming out to bring me back.
Whoohoooo we were on our way to our LAST TREATMENT!!! They got me hooked up and ready to go and then the four hour party started!! (Serious Face) lol The last time I would have to sit in those blue chairs, smell and taste the four different chemo drugs run through my veins, the last time having that spaced out/awkward feeling after from all the drugs, then feeling life crap for days/weeks after. I mean SO much was running through my head...
In four hours (after that LAST treatment) I was getting a new lease on life. Ahhhh I couldn't wait.
*side note: that lady who was talking to us in the waiting room who had Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, well she came up to me when I was hooked up for treatment because she as well was in the same room waiting to be hooked up for treatment, she leaned in and told me "don't ever be afraid, I've been battling this for 20 years," I was speechless. She had gone through so much chemo, radiation, and who knows what else for that long. Bless her heart. I can't even begin to imagine, but I will always remember her words. For her to tell me to never be afraid after her long, hard journey, man that says a lot to me. It was a great piece of advice to receive on my last treatment.
And now we're finished! Today marks two weeks since my last treatment. Today would normally be my chemo day, actually as I'm writing this sentence it's 1pm and that would be the time I would just be finishing. I can't believe it's completed. Praise God!!
Now as for how I've been feeling since... Pretty crummy.. Of course. My body has gone through so much in the course of almost a year, pregnancy, chemo, labor, I mean I tend to actually forget just how much I've been through because I try and stay so positive. My mind and body are really exhausted, I can't wait till I can feel myself again! I mean I feel myself, just certain things are still "off" in me. But time will heal all things.
So now we will get a our first Pet Scan on January 25th up at the New Britain Cancer Center and on the 27th I'll go in to meet with my Oncologist for those results! Then from there I'll be rescanned in six months. I guess they are now scanning people every six months verses three because they are finding that the affects of rescanning every three months are more dangerous then waiting another three to make it six. Of course if I get any symptoms throughout that time they would rescan me ASAP.
That's kind of where the scariness lies now. I've been receiving chemo for so long that now that it's done we have to see how my body does on its own. That it doesn't regenerate anything. To know I'll always have to keep an eye on this and be rechecked for the next several years brings a little bit of uneasiness, but I know if anything were to ever be found again I would be in great hands and I COULD do it again with the SAME attitude, although I would probably be pretty pissed at first lol.
They say with Hodgkins Lymphoma, if you can make it to the five year mark of it not returning, then you have an extremely high (forget the percentage) chance of it never coming back. This type of cancer, I'm sure like many others, has a little bit of a higher chance of coming back. But not mine!!! Positive, positive, positive!! ;)
I'll be posting again once I get my first Pet Scan Results since finishing chemo. Thank you all for the kind words, love, and prayers! I'm so grateful for you all! Here's to a healthy 2016 for us all!! XO