At least I'm free of the infusions. I won't be completely free of treatment until Sunday when I take my last dose of Drain Cleaner capsules they make me swallow.
When you're done with chemo, the Chemo department likes you to ring a bell in celebration, which also reminds the other patients in the room that chemo doesn't go on forever -- you can emerge on the other side of this ordeal.
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| Just after I got unplugged for the last time. |
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| Ringing the bell. |
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| And why not? She suffered through this too! |
Of course, there are always statistics to contend with as so poignantly illustrated by this cartoon.
That's why they call it a remission instead of a cure. In my case, statistically there's a 50% to 80% chance MCC will come back in the same spot. Things working against me are sun exposure, co-morbid squamous cell skin cancer, and immunosuppression. Things going in my favor are my age (relatively young), the stage at which it was caught (no distant metastasis), aggressive treatment (surgery and RT and chemo), and diligence (I take a good close look at my skin nearly each morning).
I'll be followed very closely for the next couple of years with PET and MRI scans to make sure nothing grows back and will be dealing with side effects for the next few years, but other than that I can live a carefree, cancer-free life.
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