I can’t believe today is my final immunotherapy treatment, my final infusion. The last time I have to sit in the infusion room (I hope and pray for good!).
I have been getting either chemo then immunotherapy (and at one point both) since November 2021. It’s now February 2023. It’s been a long time.
The first time I went through this process it was overwhelming. How sick and tired would I feel after? How will I do this pregnant? I hope this doesn’t affect the baby. Wow I am by far the youngest person here. I thought I was healthy, how did this happen?
Now I sit here feeling so much better. There’s still fear that I don’t think will ever fully go away but I am in such a better place than I was when I started coming here. I have a healthy and happy baby boy who just celebrated his first birthday. I was declared cancer free this past July. I get to have my annoying port taken out on Thursday. I am slowly moving on in this post cancer journey.
It has not been easy. There’s been a lot of physical and emotional changes along the way. There was weight gain and insomnia due to steroids, there was the hair loss, nausea and fatigue. There was the exhaustion both mentally and physically from all the stress and fear and worry about my health and Bryce’s.
But I got through it all. I focused on one treatment at a time, one day or week at a time, whatever broke it down to a manageable approach to what has been a long journey. I stayed as positive as possible despite all the uncertainty and fear. I had a great support team of family and friends that helped me along the way as well as an incredible medical staff to allow all this to be possible.
Chris asked me if I get to ring a bell after this treatment since this is finally the last one. I said I have no idea and it doesn’t really matter. What matters is I’m standing here healthy with a caring husband who has been with my every step of the way and five healthy children who make me laugh and smile every day.
This champ is ready to continue to take on life whether the final bell sounds or not. You know I’m a huge Philly sports fan so of course I love Rocky and find the fictional boxing hero to be inspiring. So I’ll end by saying I’m flying high now. It’s been a climb up those Art Museum or in my case cancer treatment steps but I made it to the top. Now it’s time to maintain this health and stay one step ahead of anything concerning that may come my way.
Rocky said it best “It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done.”
I’ve been hit hard and I’ve gotten back up. I’m winning at this game of life and don’t ever want to lose this battle no matter what is thrown at me. I’m here to win.
#immunotherapy #breastcancerbattle #chemo #pregnantwithcancer #hairloss #rocky #rockysteps #cancerjourney #momoffive #onetoughmother
