I did it!

What an impact a week off can have on the body!  Look whose neutrophils are back in the normal range (see picture)?   Last week they were 0.27 and today they're up to 2.57.  That's a HUGE change! Not to mention, most of my other counts are also in normal ranges.  Sometimes I doubt my body and what it's capable of, but this is the reassurance I needed that my body is doing what it's supposed to which is to fight back! 

2/17 Results

2/10 Results

I think it's safe to say that all 3 of us (mom, Josh, and I) were all very nervous this morning, hoping and praying that I wouldn't get turned away for treatment again.  I asked the nurse to hold off on taking my blood pressure reading until after we knew what the results showed because I'm sure it would have been through the roof up until that point!  When we found out the results were good, the nurse came over and gave me side hug, I was clapping my hands, trying to hold back tears that were welling up in my eyes, and when I looked over at my mom, she was shedding her own tears of happiness.  Another weight had just been lifted off our shoulders, and you could probably hear the huge sighs of relief a mile away.  Today was going to be our day!  We made it back to the room, and it was all smiles from that point on.  We had a mini celebration that we finally reached a milestone on this journey with the big "C".

Proof of smiles

The rest of chemo went off without any troubles.  A few people even stopped by today.  The first being Jen (Superwoman in my book).  You rock girl!  Your positive attitude is very inspiring to me and I look up to you a great deal! Even though you've been fighting your own battle, you never hesitated to reach out to me from day 1, and gave me so many words of encouragement along the way.  I just want you to know it means a lot.  I think the last time I saw you was when I was at Hubert Humphrey receiving my very first round of chemo, and then I got to see you again today at my last round while you were there.  Thank you for being a good friend to me.  I hope I've been able to reciprocate.  

Do you remember me talking about Dennis in a previous blog entry?  Yes, the one who lost his wife in November. He stopped by too as he made his rounds.  At this point, Josh had already left because he had some meetings at work to attend, and I was about 10 minutes away from being done with treatment for the day.  Mom got to meet Dennis, and I'm so glad she did.  Dennis has a gentle soul, and is just a downright good-hearted man.  He's continuing to put one foot in front of the other even though his heart aches.  My heart aches for him, and I think about him and pray for him often.  Even mom mentioned how you could see the pain in his eyes even though he tried his best to keep a smile on his face.  Before he made his way to my room, I could overhear him talking a bit with someone else about Vonnie, and continued on with more stories of her when he reached us.  Everyday, another person falls in love with Vonnie through Dennis' stories, even though they've never met her.  That takes talent in my book!  I asked him if he still kept Vonnie's picture in his wallet, and his eyes lit up and he eagerly pulled out her picture to show us.  I had seen it before, but wanted to show mom.  He was so proud to show off his beautiful wife's picture, and had a big smile on his face.  This is all I wanted was to see him smile. 

While Dennis was still in the room, the cookie guy showed up, then Amy came back into the cube.  All we would have needed now was Deb (the scheduler) to show up, and we'd have ourselves a nice little party.  Who needs a large over-the-top party when you can share a moment with a group of people who are all very different, but share one thing in common - we've all been touched by cancer one way or another.  I think we can all agree that we wished we had something else in common besides cancer, but these are all wonderful people who I more than likely wouldn't have crossed paths with otherwise.  I feel like I'm the lucky one to have made a few new friends along the way, and I look forward to continue seeing these people at HH even after I'm in remission to do some volunteer work or bring snacks.  It's time to pay it forward. 

God is good & I'm truly blessed.