Blog / Random thoughts and musings.

Chemofreedom!

Yesterday was #12, the final chemo! That means, I’m done! Finished! It’s over! (Well, it’s over once this week’s side-effects wear off.) I can’t really believe I’ve been doing this for half a year… it’s become a bit of a blur. Now all that’s left is getting through the next 5 days of side-effects, getting my PET/CT scan next week (ugh, that means fasting in the morning, drinking a couple cups of barium contrast, and sitting motionless for 90 minutes), anxiously waiting for the results of said scan, and assuming all is well, getting my port removed the following week.

We brought two cartons of yummy cupcakes to chemo yesterday for the nurses and other staff to celebrate. I was complaining about increased shortness of breath recently so they decided to hold back one of the 4 drugs (bleomycin, the “B” in “ABVD”) for the final treatment. Bleo causes lung damage in many patients, and is the least important of the 4 ABVD drugs as far as fighting cancer goes, so it seemed like a good decision.

Here are a couple photos from the final chemo. The first is of me, with the chemo infusion apparatus already connected to the port in my chest. The port area looks a little funny because they have the whole thing covered with clear tape to hold it in place. Below that photo is a refresher photo on what the port actually looks like, for those who didn’t see the post when I originally had it installed (it’s completely under the skin, and the long tube goes into the big subclavian vein which then shortly feeds into the heart), and a close-up of the needles they use to “access the port”.

I also grabbed a photo of the Adriamycin (the “A” in “ABVD”) being delivered by my nurse, Mary. It’s one of the three “push” drugs that get injected over a 10 minute period each. Then the last drug is a 90 minute drip from a big bag. The Adria is unusual because of its color… looks quite unnatural to have neon red injected into your body (we call it kool-aid). Oh, and it comes out the same color the next time you go to the bathroom, which can be a little bizzare!