Milestones and Fiber Bombs

Thursday was my last chemo treatment! *happy dance happy dance happy dance* I celebrated and thanked the nurses with some delicious mini cupcakes and they were a huge hit!!

When I entered the chemo room for my blood draw, I noticed two new additions to the room that I wish they would have added a bit sooner than my last treatment. On the wall hung two, brand new, flat screens TVs. On my very first chemo treatment I asked one of the nurses why they didn't have any TVs for patients to watch. Her response seemed very logical - the doctors wanted to pay for an all RN and oncology certified nursing staff rather than TVs. But I guess after putting up with my childlike attention span for the past 16 weeks, they finally decided it was worth it to splurge on some entertainment devices.

After my blood draw, I met with my doctor and we discussed the next steps in the treatment plan. Sensing my anxiousness to get this whole thing over with, he moved the schedule up a week. I meet with my next doctor, the radiation oncologist, tomorrow morning and my PET/CT scan is now scheduled for October 6th. I am not quite sure what tomorrow's appointment will entail. More than likely I will meet the new doctor, talk about the next few appointments I need to have, and then be on my merry way.

This transition from chemo to radiation is a huge milestone. While I don't know exactly how I will respond/react to radiation, I am so thankful to be done with the icky chemo feeling. Thankfully, this last treatment has been one of the better ones as far as side effects are concerned. And they key to this good feeling is a lovely little concoction I am calling fiber bombs!! One of the worst things about chemo for me has been the extreme constipation, which leads to a terrible feeling of fullness and all around grossness. But I found this recipe for an "all natural laxative" in a book I got from the cancer center entitled Eating Well Through Cancer. Equal parts prune juice, oat bran, and apple sauce with a squirt of honey for flavor, this powerful mixture is working wonders.

Though I am still trying to grasp everything I am supposed to be learning through this battle called cancer, one of the things on my mind especially today is a sense of selflessness that I am still working on incorporating into my life. Cancer has made it easy to justify my self focus, but after some reflection today, I realize that I am still a part of a larger purpose and cancer does not excuse me from putting others before myself. I will start this new phase of treatment tomorrow with a renewed sense of love and awareness for those around me. Hold me to it. It's go time.