Final Chemo Treatment - #12

 Well, she finally made it to her LAST chemo treatment, number 12!!

We left the house a little early and stopped by Krispy Kreme to get a few dozen minis & some coffee for the pod nurses. 

We got to the cancer center around 9am. She got checked in and had her port accessed.

We met with Dr. Paluri, and discussed the next few steps after this final round (more details on that below). We discussed how well this whole process has went in her case from a results standpoint. She told him that she wanted to wait to ring the bell until after her colon surgery and scans, and that she would ring it after he told her she was NED (no evidence of disease). He liked that idea, and is hopeful that she will be one of his "success stories". We know there are lots of hands in this, and God ultimatley knows what the outcome of everyone's situation is, but we are very thankful that Dr. Paluri has done such a great job thru all of this so far, and that Christian's body has responded to every step along the way. 

We got into Pod A after that, and she got hooked up and began getting pre-meds. Pre-meds included the IV Benadryl again, so she was a little sleepy, but she stayed awake the whole time and had several visitors. This was # 12, so she got her classic number photo taken. Side note: her shirt was the talk of the town in the pod today.

First, Dr. Powell & Debbie stopped by for a bit. They talked about how Christian was doing and about work some.

After that, she began the Irinotecan chemo drug. Kelly & Connie (more of her co-workers) stopped by to see her.

Her bestfriend / co-worker Valerie stopped by to visit for a few as well.

Shortly thereafter, she was done with the Irinotecan, and it was time to get hooked up to the 5-FU Chemo Pump (Franklin) to be sent home with. She will be disconnected from that on Wednesday afternoon as usual. Everything went smooth.

She wanted to get a pic with some of the pod nurses, so Katie rounded up a few of them and we got a good picture in front of the bell.

I got a picture with her as well.

We came home, and when we got there, we were greeted with a surprise. 

Her sister Jen was standing at the end of our driveway with a sign!!

I went out to the parking deck and did a little something to her car while she was visiting with people during her treatment. So I got them to stand by her car to get a picture of that.

Big photo dump on this post, for a BIG DAY. She is laying on the couch right now saying "I am so glad this is the last time I am going to have to feel like crap from this stuff". 

Path forward:

She will feel like crap for the rest of this week, and probably start feeling a little better Friday afternoon. A little better Saturday, and hopefully almost back to normal by sometime Sunday.

We have an appointment on Wednesday December 15th (next Wed.) in the morning to meet with Dr. Ashburn (Colon Surgeon). At that appt., I imagine she will confirm a surgery date for Christian's colon surgery. We are guessing it will be sometime in the beginning of January pending scheduling and what her labs look like at that time.

She will get CT Scans on Monday December 27th, which is a follow up scan for Dr. Paluri, and should show no signs of cancer whatsoever. Will probably check CEA level at that time too if I had to guess.

After the Colon Surgery, she will recover from that (will find out what is involved in that on Dec15), and get more CT Scans & CEA level check sometime in early Feb or so probably. Following those two, will be a meeting with Dr. Paluri, that will likely be the meeting she gets declared NED.

That is my best guess at the timeline moving forward based on the info that has been presented. It is possible it will change of course, but that is what we are thinking. 

We will keep everyone updated when we find out dates and info, here on this blog.

Thanks for all of the prayers and support from everyone. It has helped, and don't quit now.

Thanks everyone!