My Cancer Journey

My last cancer treatment was December 17, 2024. It was a relief to be finished and not have to go to the cancer center every three weeks. Three months later, March 17, 2025, I had my first post-treatment appointment with the oncologist. At that point it had not been enough time for me to process everything yet, and my brain was not back to functioning completely (it is still not fully normal), so I was happy to see my wonderful doctor and have my blood drawn without having to stay for an infusion. The tests all looked good. Craig retired in February and we had been thinking about what to do. Our children are grown and have their own families. They all live a few hours from us. We love them enormously and love spending time with them, but felt we needed some time to ease into retirement. We had been talking about serving a mission for our church and thought this would be a perfect time. My oncologist gave her approval, so in the beginning of May we got off an airplane in Vientiane, Lao ...

I know others have different experiences, especially with drugs that are different from mine, Taxotere, Carboplatin, and Herceptin, but the infusion itself was not painful or uncomfortable for me. It was, however, very stressful and anxiety inducing. My blood pressure still shoots up every time I go to the hospital. It was also tiring to sit for such a long time. Because of he premeds I was pretty perky the day of and day after. So perky that it was difficult to sleep at night. Even though I was bloated from all the liquids and steroids, I wanted pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) for my meal after the infusion. It was delicious and perfect, and Craig was happy, because he likes it as well. It became our tradition to eat pho after all my infusions. I unfortunately associate pho with chemotherapy now, so I cannot eat it. It will hopefully change eventually. The day after the infusion, September 16, we went back to the hospital for my Neulasta injection. This pushes the bone marrow to create w...