Happy Birthday

To my new cancer friend Amy! She turns 25 today, and only has 2 more treatments left!! I am very excited for her. Now is about when you can actually see that light at the end of the tunnel. Good luck Amy!!

(check out her blog on the right...Mike and Amy)

Appointments

So, the week of Thanksgiving I have two appointments. One, on Monday, is for a PET/CT scan to make sure it is all where it is supposed to be. I'm not really worried about this one. It will be the 3rd PET scan I have had to have, and I now know that they are one of the easiest things associated with the cancer. But then, the next day, I have to have my port out. Now, I say HAVE TO, but I really do want it out. I don't mind getting IV's for regular stuff and I think that it would be worse to have them keep using if for my tests, and needing to have it flushed every month...**shudder**. I just don't think that anyone who has not experienced it can even fathom what that is like. And it seems like it would be such a non-event. And its not. It makes me tingly inside just thinking about it. And if I don't have the port out this month, I have to come in and have it flushed before December. And to me, its just not worth it. Just take it out.

(I just said 'and' before a bunch of those sentences. Sorry English majors)

I have recently been catching up with some of my new cancer friends. I like to talk to these women, cause they are going through exactly what I went through. And in some cases, they are going through much worse things than I endured. I have mixed feelings about some of the things we talk about. Sometimes, I look back on symptoms, or individual experiences, and I just laugh, it seems so ridiculous to have had itchy feet, or cried over losing my hair. That was so long ago now. But it is new to them. And yes, it is still hard to be bald. But I am used to it now.

I decided that I didn't want to join a support group, or see a psychiatrist early on in my treatment. I thought that it would not matter who I talked to, no one would know exactly what I was going through. Plus, my doctors and nurses told me that everything I was experiencing was normal, so what difference did it make. I now see that even just having someone to talk to who has gone through something similar eased your mind so much. I am so glad I can talk to Meg and Amy about what they are going through. I may be done with the treatments, but it is by no means behind me. The things I experienced will be a part of my life forever.

Updates

Just to let everyone know, even though I am done with treatments, I will still have a bunch of scans and stuff to do, so the updates will be sparse, but they will come. So check back at your convenience, I will let you know if anything big happens.

Thanks to everyone who follows this blog, even if you don't comment :) It has meant a lot to me and to Nik. And another thanks to everyone who came to my Chemo's over party. It was a raging success!

Last Treatment Day!

Well today Lena had her last treatment. It has been a crazy journey for both of us. I am sure it has been much harder for my sweet wife. As the treatment ended it was a little bitter sweet for me. I am going to miss the nurses and doctors that have made it a little bit easier for Lena. I will name them so I can remember them. I would like to thank Dave, Sandra, Darrin, Ty and Jennifer. All the nurses that were so awesome to both of us during treatment.

As for what is to come. Dr H. said Lena will have to have check up appointments ever 3 months and CT scans every 6 months.

When Lena left she said to me "It is nice that I am done...but I can not be happy because I am not done with hospitals!" It made my heart sink because it is just the next step but this will be much easier for both of us.

P.S. Lena is having a Party at her Parents house on Halloween to celebrate finishing chemo. It will be a costume party and anyone is invited. We would ask if you are sick or have been around people who have been sick to not come. Lena did not get a nulasta shot that would raise her white blood cell count so her immune system is not very strong. So come party with us if you can. If you would like the address give Lena or me a call and we can give you the address! There is also an event on Facebook so invite yourself and the address if there as well!

I am posting this on the cancer blog cause it is from a cancer friend. She is starting an etsy shop with matching skirts and hats for little girls and their dolls. But she posted these awesome princess dresses made for the American Girl size dolls. I thought, hey! I have some little girls who have dolls, and some that actually have American Girl dolls. Please check out her blog, even if its just to oogle the great little dresses.

Amy Kisses Mike

I'm really getting sick of these days at work. I really wish I could have just one more day off after my treatment. I just don't sleep well enough to feel good enough to be at work yet.


Oh well. Just one more.

Yes, I went home early. I just couldn't work through it. I didn't sleep like I wanted too, but I did sit on the couch and watch 5 hours of TV. It only kind of helped. Mostly the food that Jake and Nik brought back helped. It was a spontaneous party at our house last night, I just wish I had been feeling a little bit better for it. I am always glad to see my friends though, so thanks for coming and seeing me (and by me I mean Jake, cause I know thats why you were really there. I just bask in the glory that is Jake).

I feel much better now. I may have caught up on sleep by my next treatment.






I really can't express how ready I am for this all to be done. To stop feeling like crap every two weeks, to get my hair back, to get my life back to normal. In fact, I am interested in what "normal" will look like. I'm not sure I have seen it before.