Cycle six, day 4: last chemo

I had my last day of chemo today. I will have one more Neulasta shot to help my immune system, and I will have a CT scan in mid-April to check that the lymph nodes are still in the normal range.

I suppose that means that I am now post-treatment, and it's a little bittersweet. I'm happy that I no longer have to go for regular needle pokes for the chemo, and for sure won't miss the extreme fatigue that was part & parcel of my treatment. But the end of treatment means that my body has to fight the cancer on its own now. According to my oncologist, I will know in three months if my body can now produce normal blood cells on its own. I will go for monthly checkups for blood work to see if my body is co-operating.

Given that my cancer is incurable, I can expect to undergo treatment again at some time in the future. When I become symptomatic again, as long as it is two years or more from now, I will be able to have the same chemotherapy regimen, that is Fludarabine with Rituxan (FR). This would be a bonus because I tolerated this treatment well, other than the fatigue. If I regress in less than two years, then I will have to move on to a more toxic regimen like CHOP-R, or CVP-R, which create stronger side effects like fatigue, hair loss, nausea etc.

My oncologist told me not to expect my energy level to return to normal for at least three months after treatment ends. I'll be counting starting now.

Roswell Park Cancer Institute lobby, where they have musicians live every day.