Chemo #5 and Good News

We have finally started to breathe again.

We have been holding our breath since Monday after my mid-way PET scan. In all actuality we have really been holding our breath since July and my first chemo treatment.

All of the toxins, all of the stuff I have been going through, was it going to be worth it? Were we killing the cancer or was it still growing inside me? Would I need radiation or just chemo?

Just a reminder, here is where I had cancer showing up in the first PET scan:

Lots of cancer and awesome MS Paint skillz

So here we are at the big mid-way scan. I got my blood drawn this morning and then went to see Dr. Rowland. We barely let him get in the door before we started asking how the PET scan looked. He read the findings out loud to us. All of the cancerous cells have disappeared and the tumors in my chest aren't even there any more at all. Everything. Gone.

No more cancer.

I immediately began to cry and Dan wrapped me in a big bear hug right there in Dr. Rowland's little office.

The Dr. went on to explain we would finish out the chemo which is the bare minimum of chemo you can get and then we would be done. No radiation.

Dan and I couldn't contain our smiles and tears. We were just so happy that this was going to be done soon. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Dan has been saving this meme for awhile now

Now I only have 3 chemo treatments left. 3 sounds like such as do-able number. We have noticed however that its taking me longer to start feeling 100% again after treatments. Nausea is lasting a little longer. Exhaustion sets in a little more quickly than B.C. (before cancer). I also had some lost feeling in my right finger tips after the last chemo. That luckily faded after a few days, but that is also a side effect from chemo.

So only 3 left, but those 3 may be the hardest yet. We'll see. 

I feel pretty good after my treatment today and just ate some dinner (potato soup!). 

I think I might need a new t-shirt:

Maybe I could find one that says "butt" so I can wear it to school.

Though my kids are pretty sensitive to the word "butt" too.

We also asked Dr. Rowland about how long we would need to wait after treatment to get pregnant. I had in my mind that he had said 6 months or that our previous oncologist had said 6 months. He told us today though that we only would need to wait 4-6 weeks. This news almost made me as excited as the cancer being gone.

When times get really tough and I start to feel down about this whole cancer thing I imagine myself pregnant. With really short hair! That always makes me feel better.