Round 3 of Chemo & Halfway There!

Well, as the scorekeeping goes these days, I do believe that so far, this 3rd round of chemo continues to go in my favor. And although I'm only one day out from it, my doc and my team of rock star chemo nurses made this treatment go fairly smoothly. A little tweak of medicine here, using this vein in that arm there and my oncologist giving me more 'free samples' for that nasty nausea, I'm hoping for a winning combination over the next couple of weeks until the next round.

Most importantly, I had my mom by my side which gives me the boost I need and ALWAYS makes me feel my best because I really do need her no matter how old I am! We then kicked Hil out of the chemo room to go take a much needed break and walk on the beach, with our dear friend Julie. Yet another winning combo for Hil so that she could devour some much needed time for herself while my mom was with me for the duration of the treatment. Missing round 2 because she was sick, Ma Barker was able to get herself back to health and up in the saddle again in a few short weeks and made the drive down from Monterey for this round. And although I nearly squeezed her hand off when the nurse struggled to get the needle in my vein, we both came out of it without too much pain and post-infusion injuries.

And the exciting news from yesterday, as everyone reminded me, is that I've made it to my 'halfway mark' with this whole chemo stint, before I'm solely on Herceptin infusions for the next year. Can I get a resounding 'Woot! Woot!' please!

And as you'll see, the day was beautiful here in sunny Santa Barbara as we averted a 'May Gray' day. So, when Hil brought lunch back for all of us, we all stepped outside the chemo room to the side garden and bellied up to a patio table (infusion pole included) and had a lovely lunch. The taste buds cooperated as we had a healthy array of food and a bountiful of yummy snacks while we all debriefed about our day and the past 5 hours. Mom was a great chemo-buddy to have with me and Hil had a fab time with 'Julie-Bunny' and also an impromptu conversation in the lobby with our fave general surgeon, Dr. Grafton. And as always, in her mid-sentence convos, she gave Hil some great insights on the huge demands of being a caregiver and the necessity of taking care of herself. So, two great people for Hil to have support from yesterday. Well three people really, since my mom insisted that Hil hightail it out of there for an overdue chemo-break of her own.

All in all, me and my cancer posse came out of round 3 feeling fairly triumphant and unscathed. Bravo to the three of us as we left feeling a healthy dose of calm and gratitude for yet another step closer to my cure.