Done!

On Monday, July 23rd I completed my 30th radiation and thus completing cancer treatments.  I'm not gonna lie, the past 2 weeks have sucked a lot!  The only thing that kept my mind off how yucky I felt was having company and preparing for the "wiggin' out" party in Bear Lake (Sat. 7/21/12).  I think if no one came to stay and I didn't have the party then I probably would have just curled up into a big ball and never left the house!  But, per usual, I just battled through it and tried to ignore how tired I was and how sick I felt.  Sucked the big one!!!!!

The party turned out incredibly awesome.  Amber and I celebrated her 30th birthday (late, it's Jan. 13) and my 50th birthday (early, it's Nov. 26) with a wonderful BBQ with many, many, friends, and family.  To me, the celebration meant so much more than I initially thought it would.  I loved every minute of the perfect couple days and will cherish this memory of my 50th year.  My perspective on life has changed a lot in the past 2 months.  Amber and I schemed up our little party last year and sent out the 'save the date' cards in March to invite everyone to come play with us at the Nealy's house in Bear Lake, ID.  Amber and Adam worked hard to complete their garage/extra rooms so we had extra space.  Most people just camped out.  We partied like rock stars in our wigs and had a complete blast.  What an amazing time!

On Monday, Tera, Cindy, my mom and I went to Utah Cancer Specialists for my final treatment at 7:30 am.  I didn't know how I could even stand those last 6 treatments my burns were so bad and the skin was peeling off like zombie flesh.  It was pretty painful and gross.  The only thing keeping me going was knowing each day was one day closer to being DONE.  At first I was counting up.... day 2, day 10, day 13, day 14, day 19.... but after day 19, I started counting down... day 10, day 5, day 4, day 3, day 2, DONE!  Finally, it was here, my last day.  Thank the Lord.  Besides being extremely burned, I was exhausted, I didn't feel like myself, and had diarrhea so bad that it was ruining my good time.  Definitely HELL week! So..... I am DONE now, I rang the bell.  So happy, DONE!

My certificate and Utah Champagne

Ringing the bell!!! Celebrate!

Afterwards we went to breakfast and Marie Callendar's and then back for some blood work at 9:30.  My nadir (low point blood work) this time was lower than the last time which explains the tired.  Currently red blood count on 7/23 was 3.44 (officially anemic - normal is 4.04 - 5.48, my start was 4.48), white blood count was 11.5 (normal is 12-16, my start was 14.4), hematocrit was 33.1 (normal is 38 - 48, my start was 43), and platelets were 118 (normal is 140 - 450, my start point was 241).  The chemotherapy seems to kick in a lot around day 10 - 20 after therapy.  I didn't love that a lot but made the best of it.  It's interesting to note the cumulative effects of combining chemo and radiation treatments at the same time.  Today, Saturday 7/28/12, I am starting to bounce back and feel almost normal again.  I thank my niece Christi for giving me this wonderful cell protection balm (from Glymed-the company she works for) because that stuff is a miracle balm and has totally healed the burns in only a few days!  I feel so much better now.  YAY!

CELEBRATE!

What happens now?  Well, I meet with oncologist on the 8/13 for bloodwork and schedule getting the port taken out.  I meet with the surgeon on 8/21 for a followup. I meet with the radiologist on 8/23 for consultation.  Dr. Lee (radiologist) told me that there won't be any cat-scans or pet-scans for 2 - 3 months because it takes that long for me to heal up and get the effects of radiation and chemo out of my system.  So, stand by, more to follow on my miraculous cure.  :-)

Tuesday night's celebration diner at La Caille with Cindy Lee and Tera Swan.
Turning my Horror Story into a Cinderella Story!