Chemo Round 8: FINAL CHEMO

 


    I did it. I finished chemotherapy. And so far, my side effects from Taxol have not been as bad as they were with Adriamycin. I felt very tired after infusion yesterday but seeing my friends gather for my bell ringing brought me a lot of energy. And today, the day after infusion, I’m feeling good! The main side effect I’ve had from Taxol is bone pain. I’m very much looking forward to my “No Mo Chemo” party that I’m planning for next weekend.


    Yesterday was a long day at the West Cancer Center. I arrived at 7am and did not leave my infusion chair until 3:30. 7 rounds of chemotherapy have taken their toll on my veins. They had a hard time getting my IV in yesterday so that started the day off rough. They ended up putting the IV in a vein in my forearm. Knowing it was my last chemo definitely gave me some extra strength to endure.


    This week was long and both physically and emotionally draining. I was at the doctors four different times this week. It was the last week of school with students. The shooting in Uvalde. There were several things that happened to get me down. But there were also so many gifts. Encouraging words from faculty at my school, students, and their parents. Supportive friends who check in, send care packages, and show up for my bell ringing. This journey has continued to teach me how joy is a choice and something that I will continue to fight for.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rambling Reflections

Image
     Today is the 2-year anniversary of me finishing chemotherapy and ringing the bell on the terrace of West Cancer Clinic in Memphis, TN. Time is a funny thing. On one hand, the day feels like a lifetime ago. On the other hand, receiving chemotherapy infusions feels all too familiar. Either way, today is a day of reflection, gratitude, and celebration.      This morning I woke up knowing that I wanted to reflect on this day but unsure as to how. I sat down in my green, velvet ikea chair for my quiet time. I read back through journals about what this day was like one year ago and two years ago. I looked back through my camera roll to see what this day was like one, two, three, four, five, even six years ago. I started listening to a week old sermon from my church that I missed. Then some threads of reflection came to me.      On my camera roll two years ago today, the day I rang the bell, I screenshot a picture I had taken on November 19, 2020 at 8:42pm. The picture is shown above,
Read more

Life as a Cancer Survivor in 2023

Image
       Hi everyone! I thought I’d write an update blog post since I haven’t posted in half a year. The sad news is that life as a cancer survivor is not like my life pre- diagnosis. The happy news is that my most recent scans showed no evidence of disease!      2023 has not been as smooth sailing health wise as I had hoped or expected. The biggest scare of this year was in February 2023 when I mentioned a bump I felt above my implant to my plastic surgeon. She suggested I get an ultrasound “just to be safe”. I now hate those words. Don’t get me wrong – I am grateful I went for an ultrasound “to be safe” and we found my cancer when we did. But I’m not reassured when people tell me “it’s probably nothing and they’re just being cautious.”      Praise God the biopsy in February turned out to be clear. It was just scar tissue. Since February, I’ve had some big life updates. I got a job in Boston and decided to move from Memphis. It is definitely bittersweet.      It was strange going to
Read more

What’s Next? Anastrozole, Fragility, and Awkward Interactions

Image
  Me and my carrot tart from Thanksgiving Anastrozole      Unfortunately, finishing active treatment and being cancer free doesn’t mean your life goes back to the way it was before being diagnosed with cancer. I still have a few doctor’s appointments a month. I’m very thankful to not be planning my life around chemo infusions or radiation treatments but there’s also a scary side to being done with active treatment and being cancer free. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about a recurrence.      So now, I attempt to do what’s in my control to prevent recurrence. One thing I’m doing to prevent recurrence is taking anastrozole. Because my cancer was ER/PR+ (this means my cancer was hormonal), I am now on hormone therapy. Anastrozole suppresses my hormones so I have no hormones to feed cancer.      I take anastrozole every day at the same time. I’m thankful there is a pill I can take to work at preventing recurrence. Unfortunately, hormone suppression means my body will be in chemic
Read more