to attend the 2012 San Diego Susan G. Komen 3-Day this weekend (Nov. 16-18).
They were very excited to go on a trip. Stay tuned for updates on their adventure!
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| Is she here yet? Is she here yet? Is she here yet? |
Monday, November 12, 2012
Thursday, November 8, 2012
I Did It!! I Did It!! I Did It!!
I am proud and happy to say that I finished chemo today!! What a great feeling it was to walk out of there and know I AM DONE!! The 12 weeks have passed pretty quickly, I think mostly because I have been feeling well enough to keep busy.
The best part about today (and a sign that everything was going to go smoothly) was that my favorite nurse, Jamie, called me back into the exam room. Her nickname in the office is "the vein whisperer." I jokingly scolded her for not being there for my previous treatment because I had to get stuck twice to get the IV in. And I made it just in the nick of time for this treatment because she is going on maternity leave soon. And true to her nickname, she got the IV in no problem on the first try!!
Tied for the best part about today was an amazing surprise I received while sitting in the infusion room. Two of my amazing, thoughtful, wonderful friends (you know who you are) walked in with a balloon, flowers, and cards, catching me completely by surprise and instantly bringing me to tears. That meant so much to me!! Thank you ladies for surprising me and celebrating my victory with me!!
So now I'm home resting, and although I know there are a couple of rough days ahead, I will come out of it knowing that I will not have to go through it again. For this I feel so fortunate. I talked with another patient today who I met during chemo (we had similar chemo schedules). Hers is a very different story. I didn't know until today that she is battling lymphoma that has morphed into leukemia, and it's on her lung and her brain. She has regular spinal taps where they inject the chemo medicine into her spine and she has to lay flat for four hours so the medicine gets to her brain. And that's the day after her other chemo where she's in the same infusion room that I'm in for several hours. She expressed to us that she's tired and she's suffering and she's in pain. I gave her big hug, we cried a little, and now that I'm done, I probably won't see her again. But I will always remember her and to me she represents so many people suffering from this horrible disease. It's just confirmation that we have to keep fighting for a cure and fighting to find the cause to end this senseless suffering.
Even though I'm done with chemo, I'm not completely done with this journey. My next step is an oophorectomy in December. If you remember, I found out that I am BRCA2 positive, which means I have an increased risk of ovarian cancer. After seeing a genetic counselor and talking with my doctors, the best way to prevent ovarian cancer is to remove the ovaries. Because of my age I don't really need them anymore, so I agreed with the doctors that this the best decision. My surgery is scheduled for December 11 and is an outpatient surgery. Compared to everything I've been through up to this point, I'm expecting this will be the easiest part. But for now, I am concentrating on getting better after this last chemo treatment.
I'll keep you posted on my progress. Thank you again to everybody that has been following my journey. Your blog comments, calls, emails, texts, snail mail, FB messages, and FB comments mean the world to me and it helps me each and every day to know you're out there.
The best part about today (and a sign that everything was going to go smoothly) was that my favorite nurse, Jamie, called me back into the exam room. Her nickname in the office is "the vein whisperer." I jokingly scolded her for not being there for my previous treatment because I had to get stuck twice to get the IV in. And I made it just in the nick of time for this treatment because she is going on maternity leave soon. And true to her nickname, she got the IV in no problem on the first try!!
Tied for the best part about today was an amazing surprise I received while sitting in the infusion room. Two of my amazing, thoughtful, wonderful friends (you know who you are) walked in with a balloon, flowers, and cards, catching me completely by surprise and instantly bringing me to tears. That meant so much to me!! Thank you ladies for surprising me and celebrating my victory with me!!
So now I'm home resting, and although I know there are a couple of rough days ahead, I will come out of it knowing that I will not have to go through it again. For this I feel so fortunate. I talked with another patient today who I met during chemo (we had similar chemo schedules). Hers is a very different story. I didn't know until today that she is battling lymphoma that has morphed into leukemia, and it's on her lung and her brain. She has regular spinal taps where they inject the chemo medicine into her spine and she has to lay flat for four hours so the medicine gets to her brain. And that's the day after her other chemo where she's in the same infusion room that I'm in for several hours. She expressed to us that she's tired and she's suffering and she's in pain. I gave her big hug, we cried a little, and now that I'm done, I probably won't see her again. But I will always remember her and to me she represents so many people suffering from this horrible disease. It's just confirmation that we have to keep fighting for a cure and fighting to find the cause to end this senseless suffering.
Even though I'm done with chemo, I'm not completely done with this journey. My next step is an oophorectomy in December. If you remember, I found out that I am BRCA2 positive, which means I have an increased risk of ovarian cancer. After seeing a genetic counselor and talking with my doctors, the best way to prevent ovarian cancer is to remove the ovaries. Because of my age I don't really need them anymore, so I agreed with the doctors that this the best decision. My surgery is scheduled for December 11 and is an outpatient surgery. Compared to everything I've been through up to this point, I'm expecting this will be the easiest part. But for now, I am concentrating on getting better after this last chemo treatment.
I'll keep you posted on my progress. Thank you again to everybody that has been following my journey. Your blog comments, calls, emails, texts, snail mail, FB messages, and FB comments mean the world to me and it helps me each and every day to know you're out there.
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