Just a Chemo-Free Friday

I am now in the midst of an official Chemo Holiday. If all goes well I won't have chemotherapy for the rest of the summer.

At our meeting this week my oncologist entered the room saying, "So when do you want to start chemo again"?

Is that a trick question?

I'll still go to the hospital roughly once a month for the bone-strengthening drug Aredia. And in two months I'll have tumor markers drawn, which might tell me if the cancer is running rampant. And, of course, I'll run to the hospital if I have symptoms of rapidly advancing disease.

Still: A chemo holiday!

I completed nine months (8 cycles) of Taxol without a break. It's not a world record or anything, but it's something. I worked as close to full time as I could, given my appointments. I was still looking at Eric all doe-eyed and in love, but by cycle five I was feeling like I (really) might be better off dead, and why the hell was I doing this?

Today I'm four weeks out from my last treatment with Taxol, and I'm not exactly turning back flips... but I figure I have to start feeling better soon.

Nine months ago I had breast carcinoma with bone, lung, liver and nodal metastases. Now my lungs, liver and (amazingly) nodes are clear. That's an excellent clinical response to treatment... very nearly as good as it gets.

I'm not exactly overjoyed at the state of my health, but I know toooooo many women who've given WAY more than their eye teeth chasing down that kind of response, and whose treatment has failed, failed, failed. They never caught a break. I've caught one, for now... and I'm not foolish enough to be ungrateful.