Sorry it's taken so long to get this up, but my final treatment really kicked my butt! I barely got off the couch at all on Tuesday or Wednesday, and was in all day Monday because we had a meeting and then for some reason things kept getting delayed.
Instead of having my appointment at 8:30 am (which is when my appointments usually were), I had my appointment at 2 pm so we could meet with all of my doctors (and Brian's doctors) to kind of figure out a plan for the future.
Part of being treated at Children's is that they have a great Child Life department that brings games and toys and gifts to kids for special occasions. For example, on my birthday they brought me a manicure set with hand lotions and really nice cream. And for my LAST CHEMO, they brought me a giftcard to Walmart so I can get myself anything that I'd like - I can't wait to go pick something out!!
I spent most of the afternoon reading a really fantastic book called Forever (I can't remember the author, but you should definitely try and find it... SO GOOD!)
My mom and I had eaten before we got to the hospital, but expected to be in and out pretty quickly (which didn't happen) so we ended up getting pretty hungry. My mom ran down to the cafeteria and brought back all kinds of "party" goodies that we wouldn't normally eat - chocolate covered donuts (my favorite snack) and cheddar chex-mix type stuff. I had to hurry up and eat mine before I started feeling nauseous, so I didn't savor it as much as I should have, but it was delicious nonetheless!
(yes, I am wearing a Where the Wild Things Are tshirt...)
As I was finishing up, Dr. Adams and Debbie came in to congratulate me - Dr. Adams even sang and did a little dance, but I totally wasn't expecting it, so I didn't have my camera ready, otherwise there would be a wonderful video of my oncologist doing her "Happy Last Chemo" dance!
(this picture was taken just post-dancing)
Starting to feel pretty sick from the end of the drugs, and totally ready to go home...
It was so amazing to get deaccessed for the last time - I think the only thing that will feel better will to finally get my port taken out. My nurse (Katie) was super-cool and just pulled the tape off as fast as she could (I've never had a problem with the tape hurting so I always get annoyed when it takes SO LONG for them to pull it off slowly!) and she also pushed the flush really fast so that it wouldn't taste as bad as long (the flushes they use make my mouth taste like rubbing alcohol and alway push me close to the edge of vomiting)
Monday night, I basically laid on the couch and slept it off - I was feeling pretty awful and not really wanting to go anywhere or talk to anyone. Apparently people were calling to see how I was doing, but I don't remember anyone calling!
Tuesday I felt REALLY awful, but I went to my piano lesson anyway, which was a little bit of a disaster. I played OK, but since I was on so much medication for the nausea, I couldn't quite focus on anything that my teacher was saying. I'm just practicing extra hard now to make up for it for next week!
Tuesday night I also noticed that my eyebrows and eyelashes started falling out A LOT! I'm hoping that they won't all fall out, but they're falling out more and more after each shower. The good news in, my hair will (hopefully) start growing back in soon, so there won't be much of a gap for my naked eyes...
Tonight I'm on my way out to celebrate a little bit downtown with some friends, so hopefully I'll be posting some pictures of that in the next few days!
Thank you all for all of your support!!!
Lots of Love,
Lauren
listen . do not worry soo much about you hair and eyebrows. they do come back post and they stay. you need to relax and let yourself recouperate. that is the only way.congrats worrior woman. you have finally done it. that dance of your doc would had been fun to see. was is like a small tribal dance.. do give us a pictrue. :P
ReplyDeleteCongrats on finishing your treatments and hopefully it's all uphill from here. Hoping to see more of you in forum discussions in the future. Take care!
ReplyDeleteCongrats! It's great to be done, but it's better to be done and feeling like you've turned the corner! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
ReplyDeleteYeah! You ARE DONE! Congratulations! :) You did great. Feel better Lauren!! xoxo
ReplyDeleteCongrats on finishing treatment! Prepare yourself because you'll be shaving your legs before you need to worry about plucking your eyebrows!
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting port, I have never seen one in the side of the body. Was it under the skin entirely or was the hardware on the outside? Was this difficult to wear a bra over?
ReplyDeleteI have had a picc in my arm, and now a permacath in my chest (outside the body)... but the most common portacath I have heard of is under the skin near the clavicle.
Just wondering?
Also - what has been the outline of this last series of treatment you just completed? I'm reading as much as I can, but I can't figure out what treatments you're doing.
I did chemo in the originally and have now started the process for a stem cell transplant.
Hope you don't mind responding to my questions - I talk to allot of newbies here, and I like to be up to date on what treatment options and body hardware(ha!) are out there.
Thanks!
Tamara
Congrats on being done!!!
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