I just wanted to pass on the good news I received at my doctor's visit yesterday. I went in for a check up on my bloodwork. All of it came back fine. This is where he watches the white platelet counts, the hemoglobin level, and the white blood cell counts so he can determine if I need another white platelet shot or a transfusion. He was pleased with that and how I am feeling that he moved my maintenance chemo from December 27 until January 3rd!! Yay! Now, I can have time off with the children during their break and not feel bad.
I asked him for further information on why I need to to the maintenance chemo. He said that studies show in my particular case, that doing IV maintenance chemo is more successful at keeping the cancer at bay than by using the oral chemo. He told me to look at it as people who have to take blood pressure medicine everyday and not just see at as I'm getting chemo every four to five weeks. They need that medicine to maintain their blood pressure just like I need this to keep the cancer at bay, thus extending my life. Many cancer survivors live with maintenance chemo. I heard of a person yesterday that has been getting maintenance chemo for 16 years and she lives a full life. That's incredibly amazing to me and such encouragement to me! I will be getting a much less amount of chemo every four to five weeks than when we were doing it every three weeks. It will only take ten minutes for the maintenance chemo to go in, plus I will continue to get the bone strengthening medicine that takes fifteen minutes. We're unsure how it will affect me. He said some people are just very tired the next day and then they are fine. Others it might affect them like it did me this time with tiredness, headache and nausea for five days. So, we'll just have to see what happens.
I have to tell you this and then I'll close. I felt bad from Wednesday after chemo until this Tuesday. I started feeling better on Wednesday, so I made a list of errands I needed to run soon. I had eleven places I needed to go, so I thought if I feel good on Thursday, I'll do half then and the other half on Friday or Saturday. Well, I left the house with Emily at 2:00 on Thursday and we ran all 11 errands. We got home that evening and I was still feeling good!!!!!!!!!!! Yay! We took time to eat a salad while we were out so I rested then and got a second wind, so off we went. I cannot tell you how good it felt to be out and about and not feel bad or tired. I felt like the "real Molly" again. :-) PTL!
So when I went to the doctor on Friday, he asked me how I was feeling and I said, "I feel like a resurrected Frosty the Snowman" and he laughed. I told him I had run 11 errands the day before and that I felt good on Friday as well. He just grinned and said, "This is wonderful news!" Later on, I asked him how he thought I was doing and was he pleased with my progress. He looked at me and he said, "You told me that you ran 11 errands yesterday and felt good. Molly, most healthy people can't run 11 errands in one day. So, I think you're doing incredible!" To come from where I've been these past six months, I truly have felt like a breathe of fresh wind has been put in my body and I am alive again! To God be the Glory, Great Things He Has Done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Living with hope again,
Molly
