Imagine the Excitement

Hello there.  Long time, no see!  You've been super busy too?   That's what happens this time of year.  It's good to be busy, but let's get caught up....
   Since my last post (port removal), I've gone in to the oncology center only once.  It was for a Rituxin treatment.  It was my first time going in with out a port, and I was a little nervous having a treatment with only an IV.  But actually, it went just fine.  I left there scheduled to go back the 2nd week of June.  At that time I'm scheduled to have a full CAT scan to make sure the cancer in still gone.  Sort of a "restaging" after treatment.  But my hope is there will be nothing to stage.  No cancer means no staging, right?  Right!
   So, life after treatment:  I was a little worried I would constantly be in fear of the cancer coming back.  And I will be the first to admit, I do try to check for any suspicious lumps now and again, but I just had to make a conscious choice to not dwell on it.  I feel it would be a disservice to everything I have gone through to get to this point if I just sat around and worried about it coming back all the time.  So I just don't.
   About 3 months out of treatment I started having a lot of joint / muscle pain.  Mostly after sitting for a while or when I first got up in the morning.  It continued to get worse and worse.  I mentioned it to Dr. V and she didn't seemed concerned, but said I could check with my family practice doctor if I wanted to.
   At about the point I started to feel 93 years old (and probably looked it-all hunched over and moving super slow) I decided to check in with Dr. Gao (family practice) and get her input.
   So I haven't seen Dr. G since before my treatment started.  When she walked into the room, she came right over to me and said  "Oh my gosh, it's so good to see you.  I've been copied and updated on everything you've been going through and I just could not believe all the procedures and tests and all you've been through".  She came up and gave me a big hug.  It threw me off a little because I was not used to this from a medical person; it felt more like a friend I hadn't seen in a while.  But how nice is that?
  Anyway,  I talked to her about the pain, and she said it will take a little while for your body to heal because we "poisoned you on purpose".  And because of that we had to kill some of the good cells in your body and some of them take a while to heal and be replaced.  So having some nerve / muscle damage is normal.
I think just hearing that made me feel a little more patient with giving my body time to heal.  I have been so fortunate to have very little prolonged damage.  Any side effects I had during chemo are gone.  And even the pain at this point is almost completely gone.  I've been walking on my treadmill and even started a little jogging just to help rebuild some strength.  Today I feel so close to "back to normal"...just in time for summer! Woo-Hoo.
  Speaking of summer...... Here's what we're looking forward to around here.....
Lauren is in cheerleading, so that is a big commitment.  Lots of practices this summer!  She loves it, and we love it!  It keeps us busy!   Josh has a father/son campout and then Scout camp coming up.  He's really looking forward to that.  We have some friends coming to visit us, and we're planning on getting out to see some friends and family as well.  I love summer.  I love being busy.  And I love having my kids home.  So you can only imagine the excitement that the end of May has in store for us!  I can't wait!  Happy Summer, Friends!  ♥