Goodbye Chemo……FOREVER!

I think it is safe to say that the last two weeks of my husband life have SUCKED! His last round of treatment was hands down the worst. He had mouth sores, horrible arm pain, jaw pain, neck pain and an ear ache. That night when we got home from treatment he went straight to bed and that was where he stayed for the next four days; only to get out every couple of hours to take a shower to help relieve the pain. Then days 5-8 the pain in his arm was so bad he was up most nights unable to sleep. The pain got so bad at one point when he fell asleep he had a dream someone was cutting his arm. I woke up several nights to him in the shower, sitting on the couch in the dark or to him waking me up asking me to please rub his arm….it was horrible! Finally he said he couldn’t take it anymore so I took him in to the doctor and they checked him over to make sure he didn’t have a blood clot or anything else that was alarming. She concluded it was probably just the drugs in is IV that probably was causing the pain in his veins since they are so sclerosed. She gave him some pain meds and told us that if it wasn’t getting better in the next 24-48 hours or if it started to swell call her. On the way home Steve said, “I guess I’m not as tuff as I thought I was.” He really doesn’t give himself credit for what he has been through. I have tried to tell him that it isn’t like he has just been sick for a week or two this has been going on for over 6 months! Finally on Sunday Steve said that he was feeling better. Well at least it was in time for his treatment today but I just hope 2 days was enough to recuperate for another round. Well there is good news from today’s visit…his blood work was actually in the normal range. Normally Steve’s white count stays just below 2 and they really want it above two but since Steve has done fairly well they have only given him the neuprogen injection once when it dropped below 1. Today it was at 3.2 which surprised us since Steve felt so bad this time we thought it was probably really low. Bad news though he still has to have the neuprogen injection tomorrow. Why? Well we are leaving on vacation probably at the same time that his white count will be at its lowest point from this treatment and since we are flying and going to Disneyland where he will be exposed to more illnesses and diseases we could ever imagine we rather be safe than sorry. No room in our vacation agenda for a hospital visit!
Come February 15th the bell will ring! At Steve’s oncology office they have a bell mounted to the wall outside of the chemotherapy room that you get to ring to celebrate your last treatment. On November 16th Steve rang that bell in celebration for completing his 4 months of chemo. Little did we know less than a month later we would be back here for 2 additional months of treatment. So come today at the end of his additional two months Steve stated, “I am not going to ring the bell. But come February 15th when I get the results I will ring that bell off the wall!” This is not because Steve and I fear that his cancer isn’t gone but we have decided to take it day by day and proceed with faith and caution.
Here is to…
1. An EASY round for my husband
2. A GREAT, RELAXING vacation with the family
3. And most importantly a CLEAN scan on the 14th!

Much love!
The Waymans

Alive and……Well?

Yes we are alive and MOST days WELL. Since I last posted Steve has had two more treatments one on the 27th of December and today. Treatments these days are a little rough due to Steve’s veins being sclerosed from his chemo treatments. After his last treatment he felt pretty well as long as he stayed on his anti-nausea meds, if he doesn’t take them well it is a different story. Other than that he felt pretty good. Today’s treatment went a little better it only took 2 times to get an IV started compared to 4 at the previous treatment. His blood work was borderline again today but he was able to continue treatment and even skip the neupogen injection.

Thanks for everyone’s love and support. We received several calls, emails and text checking in on us over the past two weeks since I didn’t update after Steve’s last treatment. I ensure you all we are hanging in there but just felt we needed to take a break to clear our heads and emotions from this whole ordeal. As most of you know we were shocked and scared to be back in chemo then to top it off he had a very hard time with his infusion on the 27th. During that treatment it took 4 times to get his IV in and the burning in his arm was horrible. After treatment Steve was physically drained and I was emotionally drained from watching him go through the whole process that I didn’t have the energy or desire to come home and blog about it.

Next on the agenda we have his last treatment on the 24th of January then the 14th of February another PET scan and CT then appointment with results hopefully on the 16th (this one could change). Please send all the good thoughts and prayers for a CLEAN scan on the 14th.

Last, we hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. We had a fantastic Christmas with our families and especially with our boys. Steve and I are definitely excited to move on to 2012 since 2011 wasn’t the year we had planned for.

Here is to a HEALTHY and Fabulous 2012!
Angie