WOOOHOOO!!

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Stine here, with a post that is 6 months in the making! Yesterday was Brian’s last day of chemo, and every minute that passes is a minute closer to him getting his life back!

He took his last day of chemo like the champ he’s been the whole time:

"Peace out."

He wore his green shirt in honor of  St. Patrick’s Day.

My grand mother passed away on St. Patrick’s Day 18 years ago, and I’ve always hated the holiday since then. However, Brian ending chemo has made me full of joy, and I think I will celebrate the day going forward. I think we have the luck of the Irish with us, now. I even wore green yesterday (with matching green earrings), which I haven’t done since the 4th grade.

The tree leaves were green when he started this process, and I have the proof. Every time he went to chemo, I took a picture out of the hospital room window:

October 6, 2010

October 20, 2010

November 10, 2010

November 24, 2010

December 8, 2010

December 22, 2010

January 5, 2011

January 19, 2011

February 3, 2011

February 17, 2011

March 3, 2011

March 17, 2011

And spring will come again! The tree out the window had a slight pink blush to it yesterday (hard to see with the iPhone camera), which is a sure sign it’s about to bud. Today is the day daffodils will be passed out by Pike Place Market volunteers in downtown Seattle, because Sunday is the first day of spring.

We brought daffodils and a card to the nurses, and they were equally as excited for Brian. They helped him celebrate his last day with a send-off that was very appropriate for someone who loves musical theater:

Overall, it was the best kind of chemo day that a chemo day can be; the last one!

The Big Climb

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Perhaps agreeing to climb up 69 flights of stairs 3 days after chemo wasn’t the greatest idea that I’ve ever had. BUT we did it, and we lived to tell the tale.

Before

As much as it sucked, I’m actually glad we did it. If for no other reason than to prove that I could. I must say though, that my time wasn’t the greatest. When I did it back in 2008, I think I did it around 14 minutes. This year, it was about 33 minutes. I did the first 20 flights without stopping, but then I think we stopped about every 10 flights or so after that.

The suck

Recovering at the top

This event benefited the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS), which is the same sponsor of the Running Scared 5k and the Pineapple Classic. I think that we will make big group participation activities out of all three of those events in the coming year, and by the time the Big Climb rolls around next spring, I will be one year clear of cancer (knock on wood).

What’s Next?

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Well, I’m done with chemo, but I may not be completely done with cancer treatment yet. We’ll find out in a little over a week.

On Thursday I’ll have a test called a PET Scan (or PT Scan). I had one of these back in September as part of my initial diagnosis and staging. I’ll talk about it more after I go through it again, but basically they inject me with a radioactive glucose and then stick me in a tube and take pictures. Areas that are still “cancerous” will show up as glowing spots in the results.

So that test is coming up on Thursday. I am assuming though that we won’t hear about the results until we meet with oncologist on the following Thursday (the 31st). Depending on what (if anything) comes back in the PT Scan results, a decision will be made about whether or not I’ll have to undergo any radiation treatments. I have to admit, I don’t fully understand the process of radiation, but I do know that I don’t want it. I just want to be done. So, we are holding out hope.

NED!

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PET Scan happened yesterday and a few hours later I received the following email from my doctor:

Great News!!
PET scan normal with no evidence of Hodgkins disease
Will see you next week

Obviously this is great news indeed.

This IS great news, but doesn’t mean that we are out of the woods yet. It just means that we are still on a right track towards the “C word” (in this case “Cured”).

This news still isn’t the deciding factor regarding whether or not I will be undergoing radiation treatments. From what I understand, part of the benefits of radiation are that it will help break up and reduce some of the scar tissue that was left behind by the tumor in my chest. We’ll learn more about this when we meet with oncologist on Thursday.

Also, I just want to point out some key words in the phrasing here (its standard phrasing btw). “No evidence of Hodgkins disease.” No evidence of disease (abbreviated as NED) is a key step, but it’s not the end. It just means that at this point, I don’t have any active tumors. But remember, I just had my final chemo a week ago. Really I SHOULDN’T have any tumors, but that’s not to say that they won’t start forming again now that we’ve stopped treatments. With that in mind, the real test comes in three months after I have the first of my quarterly CAT Scans. If that one comes back as NED as well, then we have something.

So, enough of putting things back into perspective. This is still GREAT news!

Happy Friday indeed!

I’m hoping that today is my LAST doctor’s appointment

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Today, for the first time in six months, I’m NOT going in for chemo like I normally would be today as its been two weeks since my last treatment. So here’s hoping that now that they’ve stopped systematically poisoning me, it’ll be all uphill from here.

We’re still going in to see the doctor today though, and we should find about whether or not I’ll be undergoing radiation (trading one form of poisoning for another I guess). Obviously this is something that we would like to avoid having to go through, but I guess I should do what the “medical professionals” advise.

I have a lot of anxiety about this doctor’s appointment, but at least I’m pretty sure we’ll be walking out with some definitive answers. We’ll know yea or nay on radiation, we’ll find out what the time line is for removing my chest port, and we’ll have an idea about when my next CT Scan will be.

All in all, I really hope that this is the last time I see my oncologist for a while. In fact, here’s hoping that I never see her again! =)