Dec 28th - On Dec 12th 2018 at Bluewater Health Sarnia, I received my 6th round of chemotherapy treatment - my LAST round of chemotherapy! My treatment plan "only" required 6 rounds of treatment, instead of the 8 that was originally talked about. This is because I received chemo at the age of 16 for a Synovial Sarcoma tumour in my left arm and your body can only have so much chemotherapy in a lifetime.
The messed up part about treatment going into your body is; it helps cure cancer but it also can cause cancer if you receive to much - weird right? How does this even sound right? Is that even fair?
I hope to god, in my lifetime I will never have to go through this horrible disease again (I think twice is enough...) but if I ever have to I have been left "room" to receive more chemotherapy treatments.
At home, I took my last steroid pills before treatment and applied the "freezing cream" to my port this morning one last time …. old habits CAN be broken, and these habits I didn't mind breaking.
Accompanied with dad, we headed into the chemo suite after a 2 and 1/2 hour wait to get in the chair, luckily I was able to chat with a friend, Matt, to pass the time.
Matt is unfortunately going through treatment as well on the same days I am there. I've know Matt since public school days at Johnson Memorial...sometimes life isn't fair and you ask the same question why me, why him, why everyone?
Today there was a lot of excitement for treatment this time - everyone knew it was my last round; nurses, doctors, patients, family and friends - this was definitely no kept secret.
I walked in wearing my ugly Christmas vest, with a t-shirt underneath stating "STRAIGHT OUTTA CHEMO", I wasn't hiding how proud I was to be getting the first half of my journey behind me.
Today I received the same treatment as the last, "D", in the cocktail FEC-D - this time was a bit different because; a) I needed a higher dosage amount of chemo and b) the drip was sped up to an hour, instead of 2 hours.
The reason I needed a higher dosage amount was because in the three weeks between rounds I had gained weight, and this bumped me into the next weight category.
Honestly, I was not happy to hear this - I was mad at myself.. more weight gain, come on!! But I was reminded it could be worse, and it's part in parcel due to the steroid treatment. I had to agree I could be doing much worse, I've been a very lucky girl thus far with side effects of treatment.
The excitement of the day brought many visitors; Mary, Uncle Jim, Aunt Dana, Jamie, Mom, Brittany, Katelyn, Aunt Sherri, Alisha, Candice and of course the 3 amigos; Levi, Arlynn and Lucas. It was a great surprise to see everyone and know how much they care to come visit me! Today was not only a great achievement for me, it was also for my family and friends - they have all been with me since the beginning.
After the drip finished and the saline flush was completed, officially I was done my chemotherapy treatment!! What a feeling, I was overcome with emotions - especially when I was able to "ding the dong", closing the first chapter of my journey.
The nurses yet again made today a breeze, I don't know what I would have done these past few months with out their daily positive attitudes and cheerful outlook - I'll never be able to thank them enough!
Dec 12th 2018, a day to mark on the calendar - I'm done. On to the next chapter; surgery.
Positive Note: I finished my treatment with the most positive vibes today, this made the day so much better then I could have expected. Thank you to my family for always being my number 1 supports.
