I went into the hospital on Tuesday, July 11th for my last round of chemo.  I spent just 3 days in the hospital.  Sandy came with me & again spent several weeks with me while I recovered.  I was SO HAPPY to get this treatment done, I didn’t know what to do.  I was excited but so exhausted.  My mind was doing flips but my body was no where near any of that.  My white blood count was down to a low 330 & I again went on a 10 day antibiotic regiment.    With my counts so low, I took a 2 week hiatus from physical therapy.  It was nice to not be so crazy with appts every day, plus I was dragging.  I started back to PT on July 28th, wearing masks for protection, etc.  The PT crew was great trying to help protect me from sickly people.

After my 3rd round of chemo, my hair started to fall out again.  Dora, my hair dresser, shaved my head for me!  It was so much easier with a bald head than hair all over everything.  The process of losing my hair made me want to puke.  But once it was gone, it was not a big deal.  I either wore hats or went with nothing on my head.  In the scheme of everything, the hair loss is so minimal but it’s the one thing EVERYONE NOTICES.  Believe me, people stare when you wear a hat or when you go bald.  It doesn’t really matter.  At first, I would be offended but I soon grew to ignore it … people stared no matter what!

After much deliberation, it was decided that I would do 2 more rounds of chemo.  Jacque was here to take me but we went thru 2 days of waiting & waiting to get the call!  The wait was awful.  I went into the hospital on Friday, June 16th.  Since I had no reactions to the other 2 rounds of chemo, the process was done faster & I was only hospitalized for 3 days.  I had visitors from PA on Saturday, some of my Sisters & Sister-in-law came & spent the day.  They were so cute because they hated leaving me there alone.  But I was fine.  This was my 4th hospital stay & the medical staff were awesome & attentive.  Plus, I was coloring my Anatomy Coloring Book for Massage Therapy School.  I was occupied & a coloring fool!  Sunday night Sandy came to pick me up & spent the following 2 weeks with me.  Carting me to/fro from appt to appt, etc … I have had a lot of help & support.  More than I could actually use.  NICE position to be in & I am not complaining.

Went to Physical Therapy two weeks after chemo because my counts were down.  I wore masks & alerted the PT Staff of my comings.  They were very supportive in trying to protect my interests.

I continue to make strides daily with my Physical Therapy.  Last week I was able to lift my leg/foot off the table (Monday), get rid of the cane (Wednesday) and started walking up the steps as you all do (Friday).  It’s been a long time since I have walked “foot over foot” on the steps.  Today I was given the clearance to SIT BEHIND the wheel of my car … not to drive but to practice moving my foot from the brake to the gas, etc.  I also have to practice pressing & holding the brake.  We are working to strengthen the thigh so it can hold the brake for a period of time.  As you can imagine, I can’t wait to drive again & I am very close!

I had the normal follow-up testing & then met with Dr. Ettinger.  We were to re-evalutate my situation & plan our next attack.  It was an EMOTIONAL visit for Me & I was alone.

We initially talked about the number of treatments I had & then he said, “the question is do WE continue with chemo or stop?”  I was stunned & asked WHY.  He proceeded to tell me that NORMALLY my type of tumor does not respond well to any type of treatment.  He said for reasons he can not explain medically, my tumor did respond to the treatment.  He then said, “You are a lucky person.”  They did not expect me to survive.  (You could have knocked me over with a feather.)  And because I was given chemo & radiation at the same time, they do not know which treatment affected it more.  So now the question is do we do more chemo?  He doesn’t want to give me more treatment than necessary, nor does he want me to have more issues, say a year from now.  He is really struggling w/what to do & did ask my opinion.  I told him my mind set was to do more chemo & keep going, so I can get this all behind me.  With all I have been thru, I did not want to stop now.