The final chemo

Back we schlepped to the hospital for my final pre-chemo blood test. An old man who I had sat next to in chemo before was sat there waiting for his blood test. I remembered from when I sat next to him last, he was watching American Pie on DVD and enjoying it a bit too much... Anywho, we started talking (about cancer of course) and he asked me how I discovered my cancer, so I went through the whole saga and to be polite, I reciprocated the question. I wish I hadn't. He went into far too much detail about his testicles, having had to have one of them removed and made me (and my mum) feel rather uncomfortable, although was a rather fascinating story!

The doctor came much quicker than last time. It was the same registrar who performed my bone marrow aspiration, who was extremely calm, friendly and most importantly patient with all my parents' questions. The doctor who we normally see is very rushed, frantic and always late. We talked about symptoms again and how I'd been feeling. I told her again about my itchy ears (so annoying!) and face and dry, sore eyes. She re-prescribed the same anti-biotics the consultant had previously prescribed, as when the course of pills had finished, they began itching again and also prescribed some fake tears, which are very similar to normal eye drops, but a bit stronger. She said that my blood levels were fine and congratulated me on how well I'd been coping with all the treatment. We were sat with her for what seemed like quite a long time and she recorded a summary of our consultation of her dictaphone. She signed me off to have my final chemo the next day.

I was almost sad (in a bizzare way) arriving for my last chemotherapy. The ward had been decked out with Christmas decorations and there was a festive vibe in the air. There were even ball balls hanging from the drip stands (and extra chocolates!) My canular was inserted, first time, and was hooked up. We were there for about three hours and were done. My parents had bought all the nurses presents to say thank you for all their support and a Merry Christmas.

Chemo has really opened my eyes, as what I thought I knew before having cancer, didn't really compare to what I actually experienced. I thought that all chemos were the same and that everyone becomes violently ill from it. There are so many different types of chemotherapy, and each dose is tailor made for the specific patient. Some people have more of less of some drugs, some have certain drugs which others won't. It's all extremely specific and very complicated.

My next stage is another radioactive  PET CTscan, which will happen next week. Hoping that the third one will be the lucky one! Superman, watch out! This one is to make sure that the cancer has fully cleared. If it has, then we can proceed with the stem cell transplant, if not they will have to take a slightly different route. I will keep you all posted. Meanwhile, my ears are still freakishly itchy, as is my face.I also have follow up appointments with the dermatologist and rheumatologist who we will be seeing the same week as the haemotologist the week after the scan. Can't wait! What a fun week that is turning out to be!