Day 118 - Seven

I've always been interested in numbers (though I struggle with math) and the meanings/interpretations of them.  I especially enjoyed discussion of numbers during religion classes that I took in both high school and college, and I find movies and books that focus on numerology to be interesting - Da Vinci code and Pi, for example.  The essay that is featured in this article (hard to see the hyperlink but it is there) by Richard Preston regarding Pi is also fascinating.  There is certainly an obsession with that number among many circles. Enough nerdiness (though I will announce that I won an award in high school for having the highest grade in chemistry that year so some nerd will always remain), but I do tend to be aware of numbers and how they have been interpreted throughout history.

In Christianity, the number seven is considered to be the number of completeness and perfection. What that really means is totally open to interpretation, but I am going to twist that number around for my own personal use right about now.  I think that chemo #7 is going to be the official knockout round for my cancer.  I've always liked the number 7 and think that good things are associated with it.  I told my doctor that today (without all of the other crazy involved in this post), and he agreed that today WILL be the knockout round and the last treatment will just be an added bonus if you really want to use the word "bonus" when talking about chemo, and I clearly do.

My doctor had a tough time finding the tumor when he did an exam during my appointment...another really great sign.  I think that it is safe to say that it is smaller than a pea now, and we both agree that you really have to know what you are looking for in order to feel it now.  I am so thankful.  Since we are drawing so near to the end of chemo, I asked my oncologist when he thinks that I might be released for surgery, and he said that they will check blood work 3 weeks after my last chemo treatment, and if everything looks good, I'll be ready for surgery.  If history is any indication, my blood counts should be back to normal by 3 weeks after chemo so surgery should happen in mid-July.

We also addressed some of the neuropathy that I experienced after my last treatment, and he was concerned but not as badly as I thought that he would be because the neuropathy went away after about a week.  Had the neuropathy persisted between treatments, I could have been facing a treatment delay or dosage reduction, but all was good today.   We'll see what the next 3 weeks bring in relation to that. Hopefully any issues will be mild and will go away again.

I'll admit that I am not really looking forward to the upcoming nausea, fatigue and aches, but those are a small price to pay for the opportunity to be healthy again.  Very small price.

Here's a pic from today.  My nurse took it because Mike had stepped out, and right before she took the picture, she said "can you fix your hair."  Made me laugh, as you can tell.  Nothing like a good bald joke to keep things light in the chemo room.  I think that this image exemplifies my desire to continue to make the best of a bad situation.  I absolutely do not take what I am doing lightly (far from it), but I have been able to find humor during some pretty stressful times, and getting chemo is one of them.

Chemo #7

I had a private room again today, and I asked for it because the rooms have a better wi-fi signal than the chairs in the common area so it works out well.  I watched Netflix and did work during my 5-hour infusion.

I can officially say that I have one chemo left!!!  I've been waiting for a long time to say that, and it sounds so great.  ONE MORE CHEMO.

I am taking tomorrow off for some sleep and relaxation and will be back at the doctor's office for some fluids and my neulasta shot in the afternoon.  The fluids really helped me bounce back faster last time so I am glad that they have agreed to give them to me again.  Worth the time and slight discomfort from accessing my port two days in a row.