2 Weeks Post-Chemo

It feels SO DARN GOOD to know that I'm done with chemotherapy. I never got very sick, just lightheaded, dizzy, and super duper tired, but that was enough for me to know I hated it. I hated sitting in that chemo chair for hours and watching that poisin drip into my veins. I hated knowing that I'd feel like crud with no energy for almost a week after. I am soooooooooo lucky to have only needed 4 chemo treatments total. I know I'm lucky. I can't even begin to imagine having to go through months and months of it like some people have to. I am so relieved to be done. It feels like a weight has been lifted to know the cancer is gone. It seems a little surreal to me, but I know it's gone and I already feel so much better knowing I'm this much closer to getting my life back. I look forward to the days of not thinking about how many doctors appointments I have that week.

Another thing I look forward to, BIG TIME, is having hair again. Being bald SUCKS. My hair was not gorgeous by any means, but man do I miss it. Having none will really make you realize how much your hair does for your total well-being (as stupid as that sounds.) For a woman, our hair is a big part of what makes us feel feminine and let me tell you, I haven't felt very sexy being bald. Not to mention, my head gets cold all the time!

Now that chemo is behind me... I was thinking, since it's going to be a long, slow process... maybe it would be kind of fun to document my hair growing back. I figure I'll try to snap a picture every couple of weeks or so to really see the growth. I know, for me, looking at myself every day it's going to feel like forever and an eternity until I have hair again... I think looking at the pictures will really help me see that it really IS growing, even though it feels like it's not!

I don't think my hair ever really stopped growing completely since I never got "shiny" bald like Mr. Clean as some chemo patients do, but it did thin out everywhere overall. So I think shaving my head would have been necessary anyway. It really seems to have grown in the last week or so and now I have a nice, thin layer of fuzz.

2 WEEKS POST-CHEMO, sportin' my fuzz!

CANCER FREE!!!!

I couldn't wait all weekend... So I called the Oncology office to see if they could get me the PET scan results sometime today so I'd know on Monday going in if I'm going for chemo or not...

Dr. Voelzke called me back within 5 minutes of me talking to the nurse. He said, "I have great news." and told me my scan came back clean... I asked him, "Does this mean I'm cancer free?" And he said, "Yes, you're cancer free. You won't need any more chemo!"

I'm soooooooo happy! Thank you soo much for all the prayers, well wishes, and encouragement. God brought me this miracle, and you all helped make it happen with the many prayers you sent Him.

I'll still go on Monday for my appointment and to set up my appointments with Dr. Ellis, the radiation oncologist. I will start my radiation in about 2 weeks. After that, hopefully I'll never hear the words "You have cancer" EVER again.

PET Scan Today

Just a quick update about today!

I had my Pulmonary Function Test done this morning -- my lungs are great... no damage from the chemotherapy. So that's good news!

After that, I went for my PET scan and it went so much better than expected. I was sooo nervous/panicky inside the little imaging tunnel the last time I had a scan, but this time I was A-OK! I took my anti-anxiety pill an hour before it and WOW, what a difference that made. I was so much more calm and breezed through the scan without so much as one freak-out moment.

After that I went down to the lab for some routine blood work then Lee and I went out for lunch since I was sooo hungry (you can't eat 6 hours before the PET scan so I hadn't eaten since the night before!)

I'll meet with Dr. Voelzke on Monday and find out the results of the PET scan and then I'll know if I'm going to do more chemo or not. I'm really hoping that they call me sometime tomorrow with the scan results, but I doubt they will so I'll probably have to wait until Monday.

4th Chemo & What's Next For Me

Sorry I haven't updated often enough lately!! My mom came to visit all last week and I was busy with her. She came with me to my 4th chemo and helped me take care of Logan and the housework since the chemo makes me so tired.

My 4th chemo treatment was on February 9th and I also met with my doctor that day, too. Dr. Voelzke wants me to have a PET Scan this week (I go on Thursday) and then meet with him again on Monday, the 23rd. He and the radiation oncologist, Dr. Ellis, will go over my scan together and determine if they feel I need another round of chemo or if I'm good to go on to radiation. I'm really hoping to be done with chemo and to just get the radiation done and over with, too. But I won't know until Monday.

Thursday will be a semi-long day at Memorial Hospital. I have to be there at 8:30 for a 9:00 Pulmonary Function Test (that lung function test they like to do after every 2 chemo treatments to make sure my lungs haven't been affected negatively by the chemo drugs.) Then my PET scan is scheduled for 11:00 and that will take a good 2 hours by the time they do my IV and inject that glucose stuff, then I wait for an hour and let my body absorb the glucose, then the scan is about 20 minutes long. I hate the scan because it's in this machine that's kind of similar to an MRI tunnel, just not quite as long of a tunnel. Last time I got a little panicky/claustrophobic... this time, Dr. Voelzke said I can take one of my anti-nausea pills which is also an anti-anxiety and hopefully that will help me get through the scan without freaking out like I did last time.

I'll update this as soon as I know more about my progress and more about what's happening for me next -- I'm hoping to find out on Monday that the cancer is gone, but we'll see! :)