Chemo: Round 6, Take 2!

I'm happy, and a bit surprised, to report that I am sitting in a lounge chair in treatment pod 7, hooked up and nearly ready for my 6th and final chemo treatment.  I certainly didn't expect to pass the platelet or hemoglobin tests this week, and was mentally prepared not to receive chemo.  In fact, I was almost sent home to wait another week. My hemoglobin is awfully close to the point where I should get another transfusion, and, although my platelets rebounded from an all time low of 34,000 to 78,000 per micro liter of blood, that was still only a mere 3,000 over the no chemo zone. But after consulting with the study coordinator and the fabulous Nurse Shannon, the doctor agreed to give me the taxotere and carboplatin at slightly reduced levels, so we can get through this, without having my platelets won't fall off the chart.

When I came into the pod of 4 recliners and 2 beds, the place was full.  One nurse had to leave -- she'd lost two teeth, or rather a bridge with her front two, and needed to get to the dentist. It was 2:30. The other poor nurse was left alone with 6 study patients to monitor, which makes a slow process even slower.  I started to get the infusion at 3:30, and before I knew it the benadryl had knocked me out.  Every time I opened my eyes at least one person had left and been replaced by another patient.  When I awoke again at 6:30 I was the only person in the pod, finishing up my cocktail.  It is now a bit after 7:00 and I'm having a final saline flush, before they pack me up and send me off.  My last chemo was, in the end, very anticlimactic, but I'm happy to have it done, nonetheless!