Done with Chemo and Next Steps

I am officially finished with chemotherapy! I had my last blood draw and chemo appointment last week. I am thrilled to be done and my poor body needs the rest.  My port area is slightly bruised from all the sticks. I have found that if I drink about 3-4 liters of water a day my body does a really good job of flushing out all the toxins. If I am not good with my water intake, I feel pretty lousy.  

Last week I also had a CT scan and my radiation oncologist is developing a plan for my radiation treatment. I still think it's weird to say I have oncologists (plural).  Who am I?

Overall, my medical oncologist is pretty happy with how I have handled chemo. I still have side affects like edema and a change in my eyesight. I'm hoping that the swelling in my body will go down since I am no longer going to chemo and that my eyesight will go back to what it was. 

I did a happy dance on my way out the door of my last chemo appointment. I'll have to go back every three weeks for targeted therapy (Herceptin) through my port. But the nurses said that it should not make me feel as fatigued as chemo. That would be a nice change. 

I begin radiation next week and it will be everyday for 5  days/week for four weeks. The side affects are a wicked sunburn and fatigue.  Once that's over, I'll be put on Tamoxifen.  So much treatment! But the goal is to prevent the cancer from recurring so I'll take it.  

This sure has been a weird 2020. I found the lump in my breast and then our country went into lockdown for the pandemic. My journey started in January and it's now 5 months later.  

This is the first summer without a swim season in 9 years and the kids are adjusting pretty well. Except that the third kid has already been to urgent care due to a slip n slide injury. He managed to cut his ear and they needed to glue it back together.  This is the same kid who broke his nose three times before he was three, got a lego lodged up his nose several years later, cut is eyebrow during swim practice and needed stitches.  This is about par for the course for him, but I feel like I need to wrap him in bubble wrap for the rest of his life to protect him. He will always keep me on my toes. 

I'm still writing and a have a few things posted on Medium.  Here's the article about my last chemo appointment: Cancer in Quarantine Diaries: Getting to Know You

I have a few more articles I'll share with you.  In the meantime, let's keep moving forward.