WOW! and port update

I saw the evidence this morning so I know it's true, it just seems a little hard to believe....chest tumour is gone! We did an xray (and labs) this morning at the hospital and the results are all good. The chest tumour has shrunk so much that you can't see it (it could actually be completely gone), and my labs look really good (again). What does this mean? Well I don't know about any of my other tumours but it is probably safe to assume that they are all responding to treatment. This does NOT mean that my course of chemo will be shortened (I wish!) but means that we are doing the right thing for me. My counts are strong and, according to S, I am not likely to have any real hiccups in my chemo plan (barring any infection) as my body really seems to be able to recover well from treatment. This I attribute to my overall physical health which, if you don't count the Hodge, is excellent. SO people, make sure you get in shape and stay in shape and then if the Hodge descends on you (or some other lame cancer) you can kick it in the you know what when you need to!

So here is a picture of my port site as of this afternoon. It is somewhat uncomfortable, especially when lying down or trying to do something over my head (like getting a shirt on). It looks a bit weird, but according to S it is totally fine. I bought some topical freezing for it that she suggested I put over the port site a half hour or so before treatment so the needle doesn't hurt too much going in. I suspect it will be a lot more sensitive the first time it's used as it is still healing and then it will get better and better. The creepy part of it is that I can feel the wire over my collarbone. For some reason that just really bothers me. You will notice the Ariel bandaid just above my collarbone - that is covering up the insertion point of the wire and its associated stitches. Just looking now at this photo...don't mind the lump on my shoulder, that's just there because I separated my shoulder back in 2000 playing soccer. Wow, I sure am pretty, huh?

Well, my MIL is coming tomorrow to accompany me to chemo and help out for the week - lucky gal! Here's to the port healing quickly and me getting back to my new normal soon.