Weeks 23 and 24

Well, I can't believe it.. I'm done with chemo! I'm very happy about that. Things were getting to the point where I was getting so burned out on going to SCCA every week that I was ready to snap someone's head off.

During the second to last week, I was having a lot of frustration and anger towards my oncologist and case manager. Instead of letting the anger go so I could approach my issues more rationally, I was feeling very emotional about them. Because of this, I met with the chaplain and told her what my issues were and that I just needed to let them go and get back to Center. She was really wonderful in helping me do just that. Now I feel like I can approach my oncologist about my biggest concern (not diagnosing a potentially serious side-effect at my follow-up visit and that the case manager is not tracking these trends) calmly and without being accusatory. I realize they are short-staffed in this area, but that is not an excuse for letting patient safety issues slide.

All of this is part of the reason why I refuse to go back to SCCA for the rest of the month after tomorrow's follow-up appointment.

On my last day, which was last Friday, I was fasting before my labs were drawn and I had forgotton that I wasn't coming in at 7:00, but at 11:30!! I got in early and then had a nice lunch at the little cafe. I have to say, they make a super yummy mushroom/cheese/potato soup. In celebration, I wore my "Hey Cancer!" t-shirt, which didn't make it easy for the lab tech, but I really didn't care!! At the end of my treatment, 5 or 6 of the nurses and tech staff came in and put on funny glasses and sang a funny song all while blowing bubbles. They took a picture of me and Jane, which is hilarious because the bubbles are going everywhere.



One of the questions that I need to bring up on Friday with my oncologist is when the port will be removed. I find it odd that no one has mentioned removing it (another little bit of frustration) and I have a feeling that if I don't mention it, she won't either. I might not say anything and just see what happens. I can always "suddenly remember" in an email to her later. One thing is for sure.. I'm not doing anything about it until January!

I met with the radiation oncologist Monday to start that process. They wanted me to come in tomorrow to do a simulation under CT, but I've put that off until January as well. That's mostly for insurance reasons.. I want to be sure I use up all of my out-of-pocket co-insurance for next year. A two-week delay in treatment isn't going to matter in the grand scheme of things. The daily grind of radiation is sort of looming over me like a black cloud.. that is going to be hard for me. But the radiation tunnel is much shorter than the chemo tunnel, even if there are more treatments.

On Thanksgiving my brother and I posed as twins for pictures. Ha!