Round #6- almost done!

It's surreal that I have just completed my sixth and final R-CHOP treatment! Everything went smoothly yesterday except that it took a little while to get my port to work correctly. I had to raise my arms, turn my head, cough, stand up, lie down, and try combinations of those movements in order for the nurse to be able to draw blood. My hernia-check jokes were under-appreciated (referring to turning my head and coughing), but otherwise I was once again taken care of very well by the staff at the cancer center. They even gave me a chemotherapy graduation diploma that had been signed by all the nurses and my oncologist.

So the next step is to ride the wave of this treatment with its potential side effects and then I will get a PET scan in 6 weeks or so to check the status of the lymph tissue in question. I was thinking that it would be sooner than that so I'm adjusting to the idea that I have to wait a little longer to get that information. But my oncologist says she's not worried about it, and I will continue to focus positive energy towards the best possible outcome, which is that there is no sign of abnormal activity any more. I'm even suspicious that the abnormal activity may be gone already and that this last treatment might not be necessary. But it appears to be pretty common practice to overtreat this type of cancer with the hope that it will never come back. So I'm down with that. Tomorrow I'll get my last Lupron Depot and Neulasta shots (for ovary protection and white blood cell boosting respectively) and then will be taking a few more weeks of pills- prednisone, zofran, levofloxazin, claritin, and ibuprofen. I can't wait to be done with this cycle and moving into the next phase!

I'm so grateful for how this has all played out. I've been able to remain active and relatively functional, the treatment has been working (as shown in the PET scan after round 2), I've received so much support in so many ways from so many people, and I've learned so much about myself and my role in the world. I've been focusing my energy on expressing this gratitude, acknowledging that I am not done with this world and that I intend to be around for a long time, and letting cancer know that it can go now. Thank you for reading this, and if you have supported me in some other way through this process, please know that I appreciate it! I have been pretty overwhelmed with the amount of support that has occurred and intended to acknowledge each act with a thank you note or phone call. I hope to find a way to get caught up on that soon, but in the meantime please know that your notes, meals, prayers, phone calls, and gifts were all greatly appreciated, needed, and meaningful. This has truly been a group effort and it would have been so much harder without your help!