Can I get a drum roll please?

Da-Da-Da-Da-Da DONE! Tomorrow, my absolute very last chemotherapy treatment is scheduled! I am so excited to check that off the "TO DO" list! I've decided oncologists have this drug treatment schedule set up the way it is for a reason... they hit you with their uppercut that knocks you on your back first, so they can say "It will get better.". Then they order the drugs in such a way that you are actually thankful to get the gut punch after the uppercut, and then the slap in the face feels mighty fine after the gut punch. If they slapped you in the face first, and then said "Just wait 'til next time, it only gets worse", it would be very hard as a patient to comply with treatment. So the last few months, I've been getting slapped, but it sure beats the uppercuts we started out with! So tomorrow is my last slap! Ha Ha!

As hard as chemo was to do, in all seriousness, I could not be more thankful for all the drugs they have to treat breast cancer now! I had the discussion with my Oncologist a couple of days ago as to how much better the prognosis is for my type of cancer then it was 10 years ago, thanks to the advancements that have been made in the drugs to treat the cancer. At that time, my type of cancer had a very high rate of recurrence, where as today, my Oncologist says they hardly ever see recurrences after the drug regime I've been on. Just imagine how much better things will be in another 10 years? Amazing!

As of this week, I now only have to visit my Oncologist once every three months, until I hit five years out, and then I will switch to once every six months, until ten years out... and then I can say goodbye to Oncology forever! Again, thankful for what they did, but won't be sad to check that off the list when the time comes.

So right now my doctoring schedule is getting my port flushed every six weeks until I have it removed (probably another six months or so), Oncology visit every three months and I have my last reconstructive surgery to schedule down at Mayo clinic some time this summer.

I've been thinking the last few days more about all the people/situations I have to be thankful for in my life. You know the song "Count Your Blessings"?

"Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings, see what God hath done!"

Seriously... I need to go back to school, 'cause I can't count that high! I am so very thankful for so much!