All Done, Never Again, Moving Forward, and New Challenges

That's right. Last Tuesday was my last chemo treatment. My body feels like it's nearly back to normal, though I know that there is a lot of recovery yet to be had. But since the best that I've felt in the last 6 months has been on my "off weeks", I feel as good as an "off week" right now but knowing that there won't be anymore chemo, I know that better days are always around the corner! I was hopeful that the last chemo would have nearly no impact to me - that was wishful thinking - but still it wasn't as bad as some of the worst. The day finished with all of the nurses coming in to sing me a song to the tune of "Oh My Darling" but instead it was "No More Chemo". That was pretty damn exciting to hear (and I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't nearly peeing in my pants from being so overhydrated). Now it's time to move forward with some defined next steps (to be noted a bit later), but at least for right now I'm over the big road block, hurdle.

 

Having been through all of this I honestly tell people that I thought it would be much worse than it was, but it is still something that I would not recommend to anyone. You aren't missing out if you go through life without getting cancer or having to get chemo. That being said, getting cancer and being a cancer survivor has changed my life and will continue to make me a better person - I'm convinced of it through my personal experiences so far as well as the stories from the other members of the surviving community. I also feel very lucky that I just had to do 6 months of chemo and wasn't exposed to needing to go through radiation. --As a little side note, just the other day my dad called because he was watching the NBA and they gave a little report on how George Carl was doing and he was talking about how much the radiation is just painful and burning up his insides. Dad said he just didn't know how to comprehend it and feels horrible that I had to go through all of this. Like he said, only people who have gone through it like Grampa Joe and Grampa Dick can relate to what I've been through. Sarah is the closest to comprehending since she was by my side the entire way and seeing what it did to me - physically, emotionally, spiritually.

 

So my experience wasn't as bad as what George is going through, but it wasn't fun. And I have said, and will stick to it, that never again will I go through chemo treatment. Never. The only way that I will budge is if Pip asks me to or if Sarah does some darn good convincing. If not, there has to be a better way, or it is what it is. I know that there have been many opinions out there, but unless you experience it, you have no idea.

 

Moving forward...what are the next steps?

1. May 3 - CT scan which will be my new baseline
2. May 5 - First "post-treatment" doc appt to review the results, check-up, schedule the next pieces
3. About 2-3 weeks - Pulmonary Function test (which will actually be good since the last one I did horrible and they weren't sure if it was from damage caused by the bleomycin or from a respiratory infection - I think it was an infection)
4. About 2-3 weeks - finally get the port/starboard out.  I do plan on keeping it I think, but I'll be really happy when I no longer have that bump on my chest
5. Checkups - I'll meet with Doctor Chen every 3 months for the first one and half years.  Along with that I'll have a CT scan at 3 months, and if that looks good between 6 and 9 months (beyond that he is so far recommending just keeping a close eye on my health rather than exposing me to the added radiation)
6. Checkups - After 1.5 years I'll have a checkup with Dr. Chen every 6 months until I've been cancer free for 5 years.  At that point they cautiously say that I've been cured.

The next biggest roadblock is one year from now.  Typically with Hodgkin's Lymphoma if a patient does relapse it happens within the first year.  I know they say it will go by too fast, but I'm already ready for Pip to be one year old!

So now its time to get ready for Pip, adjust to getting life back to "normal", and celebrating life.  A good friend of mine and fellow survivor sent me an email with these words: "Cancer is scary, but it seems to open up a new world of people and a new outlook on the world.  We survivors are honestly blessed to be able to continue on life living healthy!"  That is so true.  And now we have those new challenges of living healthy.  Before the diagnosis I got down to 167.  The lowest I've been in a long long time.  Ideally for my height and for biking I think I'd like to hover around 160.  However, because of some of the post-chemo drugs I was taking that increased my appetite, I gained during treatment and the scale this morning looked at me with scorn and told me I was 186.4.  Not a number that I enjoy seeing.  So at a minimum I'd like to cut off 20 pounds.  I've never been successful cutting down a lot of weight prior to the last year but I know I was helped by the cancer cells eating away at me too.  So I'm hoping that by the fall I'll have chopped away the 20 pounds.  I dont think that is too much to ask and if it's possible to trim it sooner, I'll be all for it.  Plus this will just get me healthier to keep on living life.

I'll share some more of my fitness goals in the future, but at a high-level my passion I've found is cycling and I have a lot of hopes to get in some good rides - starting with the Livestrong Challenge.  Running will also be in the mix as some cross training and I hope that I'll be able to join Ford on his journey in the Grand Canyon.