We made it!

Tuesday was the final cancer treatment.
A cancerous lymph node was found last September. It was found on the follow up CAT scan after a full winter of Chemotherapy that followed a lobectomy for lung cancer. After another surgery in December to remove the lymph node, follow up treatment was again advised, adjuvent Chemo/Radiation. Our Medical Oncologist and Radiation Oncologist at Dana-Farber recommended a full courses of Chemo/Radiation. That would be 7-8 weeks of daily Radiation to the chest and weekly Chemotherapy with Gemzar and Carboplatin.
OH MY GOD!!!
We never thought that we would make it all the way through. There was the daunting task of
four hours of driving daily. Driving to Boston-two hours out and two hours back, at rush hour heading home everyday for weeks through the winter in New England???.
The first two weeks weren't too bad. The driving was easier than we thought it would be and the treatments didn't cause many side effects. Week three everything began to change. The radiation was beginning to burn from the inside out. The Chemo was accumulating and causing fatigue, nausea and neutropenia- low white blood cell counts and anemia-low red blood cell counts. We soldiered on and the weeks passed. Our daughter and son in law made the weeks seem like fun. They would drive into Boston and we would make a party of Thursdays. I often think that we wouldn't have made it through if we didn't have that to look forward to. Thanks kids!
The Radiation really burned through the esophagus and caused terrific pain with eating and drinking. It was not unexpected, they warned that it "might" happen. But you always hope that it won't happen to you. The same goes for the side effects of Chemo. You always hope that you'll be the one who doesn't get tired and sick. Within a few weeks of completing the radiation the symptoms and the pain began to subside. Whew!
The last portion of the treatment plan was to get four weeks of "Big Chemo" to start right after the Chemo/Radiation combo ended. That would be larger doses of Gemzar with Carboplatin alternating with weekly infusions of just Gemzar. Our Oncologist promised it would "knock you on your ass."
It did!

Now it is over. It has all be infused and dripped and drawn and swallowed and radiated,
with the added bonus at the end of it all , two units of nice red whole blood to fix the anemia and daily shots of Neupogen to fix the neutropenia. Ahhhh.... Well done -my hero!

Soon we will actually begin to live regular days and nights again.
Soon the last of the side effects will pass and energy will return.
Soon it will be summer and the fish will be biting and the wind will blow your sail!
Soon we will be Gramma and Grampa to a little someone for the first time!