› Forums › General Melanoma Community › I just had my last chemo infusion! YIPPEE!!
- This topic has 12 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 6 months ago by
KellieSue.
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- March 15, 2011 at 2:57 am
I can't believe I made it through most of winter, five months of chemo and I still have my hope and sense of humor intact! Best of all, in about ten days I'll start feeling better and will just keep feeling better and better!
I can't believe I made it through most of winter, five months of chemo and I still have my hope and sense of humor intact! Best of all, in about ten days I'll start feeling better and will just keep feeling better and better!
I had a consultation with the oncology surgeon who will be removing my right adrenal gland and what is left of the tumor. We had hoped it could be done laprascopically which would be an easy recovery but the tumor has gotten so tiny and even though the biopsy showed adrenal tissue, it is now separated from the adrenal gland and she is afraid she won't be able to find it if she attempts to do it laprascopically. That means she will be opening me down the front mid-line and I will spend 3-5 days in the hospital.
I also met my new medical oncologist and really liked him too. I told him I hoped he could handle my often twisted sense of humor and he replyed that it is patient's like me who light up a doctor's day! He also handled my interrupting his and my former oncolgist's discussion about my treatment with questions about my own research and opinions. In all, I felt really good about my doctor of the last two year's choice for me as she moves on to Vermont and a new position.
I'm scheduled for surgery on April 19th and recovery once I'm home means not lifting anything larger than a milk carton for six weeks. A hard thing for someone as active as I am but worth it to get and stay well! I am so psyched that the chemo is done and has worked so amazingly. I intend to spend this summer riding my beautiful horse and enjoying the incredible place we live with my husband. I know that sneaky mel could still be hiding somewhere but I choose to continue to be happy and live in this incredible moment right now!
My best to all of you now and my prayers that we each find the treatment that will work for us.
Carmon in NM – Stage 4 with brain and adrenal mets since 6/10
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- March 15, 2011 at 7:13 am
Carmon, congratulations!! It sounds like you have faced chemo with humor and spunk! I wish you all the best with your surgery next month and a long NED filled life!
Blessings, Shari
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- March 15, 2011 at 7:13 am
Carmon, congratulations!! It sounds like you have faced chemo with humor and spunk! I wish you all the best with your surgery next month and a long NED filled life!
Blessings, Shari
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- March 15, 2011 at 10:23 am
Carmon,
Congrats on finishing your chemo! I wish you well on your upcoming surgery. I'm so glad you found a treatment that worked for you.
Great Job!!!
Amy S. in Michigan
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- March 15, 2011 at 1:18 pm
Congratulations Carmon,
That sounds like a great plan. It will be hard to be slowed down and not be too strenuous but that will be over quickly and then you can live life fully! Way to go!
I am glad that Vermont, where I live is getting a great melanoma oncologist! I personally do not get my care in VT but travel to DHMC in Lebanon NH. There are two major medical centers I could have chosen…..Fletcher Allen where I assume your doc is going, thats in Burlington VT and is a teaching hospital and level one trauma center, etc, and then Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, in Lebanon NH, another teaching hospital and level one trauma center. Both are the same distance for me, but I chose the one near my parents house and where my mother used to work as a nurse and where my local surgeon referred me.
Keep up the good work!
Vermont_Donna, stage 3a,
stable after 4 infusions of Ipi
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- March 15, 2011 at 1:18 pm
Congratulations Carmon,
That sounds like a great plan. It will be hard to be slowed down and not be too strenuous but that will be over quickly and then you can live life fully! Way to go!
I am glad that Vermont, where I live is getting a great melanoma oncologist! I personally do not get my care in VT but travel to DHMC in Lebanon NH. There are two major medical centers I could have chosen…..Fletcher Allen where I assume your doc is going, thats in Burlington VT and is a teaching hospital and level one trauma center, etc, and then Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, in Lebanon NH, another teaching hospital and level one trauma center. Both are the same distance for me, but I chose the one near my parents house and where my mother used to work as a nurse and where my local surgeon referred me.
Keep up the good work!
Vermont_Donna, stage 3a,
stable after 4 infusions of Ipi
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- March 15, 2011 at 7:06 pm
Congrats! I too went through Chemo this winter (bio-chemotherapy at the University of Colorado Cancer Center). I finished treatment in early Feb – What a TIME to celebrate. I felt like crap for the next month…but, knowing that each day would be better than the last was really important.
What I am finding a challenge, tho, now that the madness of the initial diagnosis and the last 7 months of treatments are over (diagnosis July 2010, surgery August 2010, radiation September 2010, Biochem Nov – Jan, with a December surgery), is learning NOW how to LIVE. By that I mean, being able to live with the complete uncertainty of how this disease will or won't progress (will THIS be my best/healthiest week or spring or year?). And, I KNOW every cancer patient deals with this and every PERSON really deals with this. But, as my life slows back down and I have a chance to look forward…I sometimes find it difficult not to be too hard on myself for not living better (maybe its OK to spend the weekend in front of the TV sometimes!). I sometimes pressure myself to squeeze SO much into every day (or be hard on myself if I don't) that I miss the point of just slowing down and being. I know its something we all deal with and some of you on this board are experts and I'm so amazed and inspired by you.
I hope I have plenty of time to get as good as you all are at living. Just sharing – thanks for listening. – Shari
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- March 15, 2011 at 8:49 pm
Hi Shari – I had almost two years of being NED at stage 3b from diagnosis to a brain met starting to bleed into my brain in June 2010 to adjust to life with mel. You have kind of gone through a trial by fire and I know I wouldn't have handled all of this nearly as well if my timeline had been like yours.
I also had the help of a really good counselor who is a 17 year cancer survivor herself. If you aren't seeing a counselor with this kind of experience, I sure do reommend it. It is amazing what we humans can adapt to and even though it doesn't seem possible right now, you will adjust and find a way to live and live really well in spite of melanoma.
My best wishes to you – Carmon in NM
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- March 15, 2011 at 8:49 pm
Hi Shari – I had almost two years of being NED at stage 3b from diagnosis to a brain met starting to bleed into my brain in June 2010 to adjust to life with mel. You have kind of gone through a trial by fire and I know I wouldn't have handled all of this nearly as well if my timeline had been like yours.
I also had the help of a really good counselor who is a 17 year cancer survivor herself. If you aren't seeing a counselor with this kind of experience, I sure do reommend it. It is amazing what we humans can adapt to and even though it doesn't seem possible right now, you will adjust and find a way to live and live really well in spite of melanoma.
My best wishes to you – Carmon in NM
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- March 15, 2011 at 7:06 pm
Congrats! I too went through Chemo this winter (bio-chemotherapy at the University of Colorado Cancer Center). I finished treatment in early Feb – What a TIME to celebrate. I felt like crap for the next month…but, knowing that each day would be better than the last was really important.
What I am finding a challenge, tho, now that the madness of the initial diagnosis and the last 7 months of treatments are over (diagnosis July 2010, surgery August 2010, radiation September 2010, Biochem Nov – Jan, with a December surgery), is learning NOW how to LIVE. By that I mean, being able to live with the complete uncertainty of how this disease will or won't progress (will THIS be my best/healthiest week or spring or year?). And, I KNOW every cancer patient deals with this and every PERSON really deals with this. But, as my life slows back down and I have a chance to look forward…I sometimes find it difficult not to be too hard on myself for not living better (maybe its OK to spend the weekend in front of the TV sometimes!). I sometimes pressure myself to squeeze SO much into every day (or be hard on myself if I don't) that I miss the point of just slowing down and being. I know its something we all deal with and some of you on this board are experts and I'm so amazed and inspired by you.
I hope I have plenty of time to get as good as you all are at living. Just sharing – thanks for listening. – Shari
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