Chemo is over!!! It’s been a while since I updated, but it’s been a crazy several weeks. Since my last update, though, I finished my 12th dose of Taxol!! Yay!! We made it, y’all. 🙂

I felt like I was handling Taxol pretty well, as I made my way through it. It was a cake walk compared to the 4 rounds of AC I did in April and May. With AC, each dose got worse and harder to recover from. (My last dose took me a full 9 days to get back to myself.) Once I started Taxol, though, it was a dream based on my expectations. I had 12 doses of Taxol…every Friday afternoon for 12 weeks. Because they were so mild, I told Clint that this should be no problem to finish up. However, after dose 6, I was over it. I had low moment, when I just wanted to be done and not think about SIX MORE WEEKS. Now I sit here and think about how that felt like just yesterday. Once I picked myself back up, with my husband’s support, those last 6 weeks flew by.

On my 10th dose, I bopped in to the clinic like normal…chatting away with my lab tech and others around me. I know you’re all shocked that I say I was chatting away! As I’m sitting in my chair, waiting for Rachel to come hook me up to my weekly dose of poison, she approached me empty handed. I know I’m not early, because (well) I just don’t do early, so I was perplexed. She tells me that my ANCs are low, and she has to talk with my doctor to see if I can be treated. <<<WHOA>>> No, I’m here to get this done and get it done now…I don’t do well with delays or surprises (Surprise!)

Luckily, the doctor felt I had been doing well enough to go ahead and treat me. Even though my numbers were at 1.0, she let me proceed! Although, I did work from home the following week, since my numbers were so low, just to be cautious. Week 11 rolled around, and I bopped back in to the clinic again, and then had the same song and dance with Rachel. My ANC was still low, so she had to discuss with the doctor. Again. It was only at 1.1, so not a significant improvement. But, Dr Thomas let me get my infusion, and we pushed onward! I’m so fortunate to work for a boss and with a team that allowed me to work from home, again, for a second week in a row.

Finally…the final day of chemo arrived! I bopped in to the clinic one last time…and I was ready. No way was I going to let you mess this up for me, Rachel! We were making this happen. Fortunately, my ANCs improved to a 1.8, which was back in the normal range! I was good to go, and did that final round like a champ!! I was out of chemo!!!

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Unfortunately, the celebration was short lived, as I started running fever that evening…which was a first for me. I had visions of ER visits in my head, but fortunately it never got that bad. The fever lasted all weekend. While there was no ER visits, there were plenty of bathroom visits (I’ll let you make your own decisions on what that means 🙂 ). But by Monday afternoon, everything was back to normal! I had made it without any delays. Without any major complications. Without any significant downtime. I’m truly blessed!

Once I was back up and recovered, my team at work surprised me with a “No Mo Chemo” celebration; my husband and friends also surprised me with a “No Mo Chemo” celebration at the lake; some friends and I went ax throwing; and then dinner and conversation with another group of wonderful friends. These past few weeks have been just fantastic!

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Oh…and I have now have hair! It’s not a lot, but it’s growing back thick and fast! Oddly enough, it’s much lighter than my old hair. But at least it’s straight! I don’t deal well with things I can’t control…and curly hair is a thing I can’t control. LOL

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Up next is surgery! I’m scheduled for a double mastectomy with lymph node removal on Thursday, this week. I should only be in the hospital one night and will be at home for about 4 weeks. I’ve got stacks of books and watch lists prepped on Netflix for binging. I’m all set and ready to get this done! My prayer is that I am NED (No Evidence of Disease) when we get the pathology reports back next week. So, if you’re a believer…go ahead and throw a few extra words up to Him for me, if you don’t mind. 🙂

I’ll try to be more timely in my next update to you, which will be after surgery! So ready to get this done!!! ❤

Proverbs 31:25