My Journey: The Last Dose

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

The Last Dose

A big day today. I took my last dose of Prednisone, thus officially completing my chemotherapy regimen. Now it's recovery time and wait for the hair to start growing back. Tomorrow we go up to Boston to meet the radiologist and see whether there will be some radiation in my future. The rest of the week is pretty busy too. Thursday a follow-up visit with my primary care doc here on the Cape (one of Pete's colleagues) and a visit with the neurosurgeon to discuss the disc surgery I still need for my back - and hopefully will have this summer. Then Friday I will meet with a VA rep to file a claim for possible Agent Orange benefits (see earlier post). After another trip to Boston next week for the final meeting with Jason and DR. T., we'll head home to Lenox for the rest of May and June.

So how did I celebrate this momentous day? By making shea butter cream, of course. This time with stink (Lavender) for the ladies. Even used fancy jars. One for Nancy and one for each of the girls. The house still stinks, but I'm surviving. We also went for a hike with Maddy and Pete to Long Pasture, an Audubon sanctuary nearby. It sits on the bay and has nice hiking trails and a small farm with turkeys, sheep and goats. It had chickens, but their house got taken out by a large tree that fell, and the survivors were relocated. There's also a nice visitor's center. The kids love the place.

Tomorrow is day 6 of the cycle and almost on schedule I'm starting to feel a little nauseous. I don't know if I'm just psyching myself out, but based on the previous cycles it should only last a few days. No big deal.

1 comment:

JoanMay 4, 2011 at 5:53 AM
Three cheers! See you at home in a week or so-
Love,
Joan
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MY ASSISTANTS

This blog, as well as this whole journey, would not be possible without my dedicated and highly capable team of assistants. To wit:

Editor Nancy This lovely young woman is responsible for checking my posts thoroughly for misspellings, syntax errors, omissions, or just plain bad writing. Any complaints should be addressed to her.

Nurse Nancy Though she is not really a nurse, she is always willing to research any problem that arises and to make a diagnosis. She is particularly good at contradicting a doctor's diagnosis if she doesn't like it.

Chef Nancy I'm very lucky to have a personal chef who is expert in a number of different cuisines that I love. In addition to Armenian food, which she learned from my mother, she makes wonderful Italian, Mexican and Indian dishes, as well, of course, as traditional American fare. She is not afraid to try cooking something new, though she always complains about how it came out (in spite of my protestations to the contrary).

Chauffeur Nancy One of the advantages of being sick is that I can kick back and relax on long journeys, while my trusted Chauffeur Nancy does the driving. Also, I get break from being back-seat driven.