one cycle = DONE

another good day! cancer is really taking a beating here...i continue adding to the tally of good days, and cancer gets fewer and fewer bad days on its tally. cancer chose the wrong opponent, i don't like losing. for the good days, i credit many things...here's the run down on this fantastic day...

first off, my dad came with me (thanks dad) and we went for a bagel and coffee before doing anything else. there are few better ways to start a day. then it was off to the hospital for a pulmonary function test. you all know how i enjoy the funny situations in all this. this was one of those. if you've ever seen office space, picture the guy with the stapler (if you haven't seen it, i suggest you do). he did the tests. it was relatively easy, you sit in a chair, and breathe as hard as you can while they test your lung capacity a few different ways. for one of these tests, you breathe all the way in and hold it...it felt funny, so i asked if i breathed anything in. yes, yes i did. carbon monoxide. seriously? radioactive tracers, toxic gas and radiation...do they really wonder why we have an increased risk of secondary cancers? my lungs were fine going into it, and if i have lung toxicity at some point in this process, i'm blaming that man...and then stealing his stapler.

then off to treatment number two! first awesome thing of the day...i got to use my port! you couldn't possibly be excited about this unless you've been there...i had one little pinch from the needle, then was totally hands free through treatment - it's like the bluetooth device of cancer treatment. also, the best nurse ever (tied with my oncologist's nurse, who i also adore) took care of me. she's seriously amazing...she makes going to treatment sort of exciting, if it wasn't for the fact that it's cancer treatment, it would really be very exciting...i do look forward to seeing those two. the treatment itself was uneventful, and here's to hoping this excessively expensive nausea prescription does what it's supposed to.

that sounds like a good day, huh? it gets better. my oncologist comes in today and the first thing he said was "so do you want some good news?". first of all, i can't even really express enough gratitude for his approach to all this. we all realize cancer is serious, but why focus on that? it's a reality, but i have no reason to think about it every day...thank you to each one of you who also don't focus on any of that. so, the news? well, i had a chest xray after the port was put in to make sure it was in place. my oncologist put the original chest xray next to the one from wednesday...in just one treatment, i've had an excellent response and the mass has decreased in size very quickly! there are no words, really, just hope. lots of it.

one entire cycle is done...only five left!