Wednesday, April 8, 2009

The Final Lap

First things first...
Kari Ann and Bryan flew in from Portland two weekends ago, and I was able to spend four days with my sister. Kolby had a dance competition in Houston that that weekend, so she and my dad came down as well. My eighth and final round started last Tuesday. I think my feelings were mixed as I got the call saying that my bed was ready at the hospital. Part of me wanted to wait until Kari Ann left so that we could spend our last day together doing something fun, part of me wanted to get in there and just get it over with. Story of my life, but you can’t really put off the inevitable. My mom, sister and I watched Baylor lose to Penn State that evening, Kari Ann stayed the night with me at the hospital although I doubt she really slept well, and then she had to pack up the next afternoon to catch a flight home. I hate good-byes, and I especially hate saying good bye to my big sis and best friend.
After Kari Ann left I was back in normal hospital mode—staying up until 3 am, waking up every couple of hours for blood testing/vitals/etc, and then sleeping until lunch. I swear, my nurses probably think I’m crazy. Like I said a long time ago, the hospital just doesn’t sleep and neither do the patients. I did have the sweetest little nurse from the Philippines; her name was Michelle. She told me (more than once) that she would be praying for me. My last day in the hospital was Saturday. Kara and Emmy Jo (2 of the greatest/craziest girls ever) drove down from Waco to celebrate my last chemo hospital stay. We ate at Free Birds (Kara had a major craving) went to a movie, baked some treats, played Disney’s Scene It and then they had to go back to Baylor on Sunday—a short but much needed visit. They definitely boosted my spirits for my final weeks in Houston. Since they’ve left it’s been me and my mom hanging out, doing what we do best—shopping and watching Law and Order. I’m only kidding about the shopping, dad.
I had my 16th and final lumbar puncture yesterday. I am SO happy to be finished with those. I got used to them, but let’s face it, nobody in their right mind enjoys having a needle stuck in their spine. Seriously…yuck. I must say though, I have a pretty cool scar on my lower back. This might be tmi, but I got some really weird skin reaction on the backs of my hands which thankfully is starting to clear up. My doctor thinks it was photosensitivity—or photosynthesis if you’re my mom (love you momma). In normal people terms—it’s a mixture of chemo and too much exposure to sunlight resulting in a red burn-like rash that hurts like the dickens. So dad, next time we sit outside of Starbucks for two hours, remind me to put on some SPF. In other more interesting news, my mom now has a Facebook (dad got one about a month ago), and I taught her how to “facebook stalk.” This could be potentially dangerous (at least for me).
I have to stick around Houston for another 2 weeks or so for blood transfusions and for any other problem that could come up. I don’t really feel like it’s over yet, and I probably won’t until we’re loading the moving van or they take out the tube in my chest—that should be interesting. Until then though, I’m still in my MD Anderson world of yucky chemo side effects (but hallelujah for no more chemo), bloodwork, transfusions, and such.
For those of you who don’t know, on both rounds 4 and 6, I had to go to the ER thus landing me in the hospital for an extra 5 days of IV antibiotics. I was looking up the dates and saw that I got sick on day 14 (remember each round has 21 days) of both rounds. I am trying to take good care of myself with the hope that I won’t have anymore inpatient stays. Please pray that God will protect my body from infection and illness.
Tomorrow I go in for my routine blood work and then to see my doctor (she wanted to check on my nasty hands). Dr. Thomas jokingly asked me last week what I was going to do without her. It took me a second to think before I told her I was going back to my normal life. We laughed, but it made me think about how “normal” life will be. My friend Kara asked me last weekend if I feel like I’ve changed any. I said yes, but I couldn’t tell her exactly how. This is the conclusion that I’ve come to—I may go back and resume “normal life:” friends, family, church, school, etc, but I am not going to go back the same person I was before.

1 comment:

Sarah Buchanan said...

Hey kendall,
im so happy that ur having fun with ur friends and family and nearing the end of your treatment. wish i could visit, but i am very busy with school ending soon i cant wait to see you.

ur most fav cuz eva- sarah