Election Day

I voted early, but I hope that all of you take the chance to vote if you haven't yet.

I just finished checking into my new room in the hospital. They gave me a different room this time; I am in room #9213 (phone 919-681-9213). My window looks out over the VA hospital and the woods off in the far distance. The leaves are changing here too so the view is quite pleasant. I am sitting in the recliner in my hospital room (not Duke blue, more of a heather green) writing while I look out the window at the drizzling rain and the far off leaves. The view will be terrific when it stops raining and the sky clears.

The doctor team has already come to round on me, and the orders for my chemo have been placed with the pharmacy. I'll be starting my first dose of chemo at 12 noon, lasting 2 hours as usual. No wrinkles, less nausea, that's my hope for this cycle. They say the treadmill is broken (again) but have called someone to come fix it. I did a nice long row this morning before I came in since it was raining. Holly shared her coffee with me from the cafe downstairs since my stomach won't be able to handle it for another 4 weeks after today. Soon it will taste bad again and upset my stomach. Tea is so nice; it tastes good and is milder for my tummy.

I'd love to write all kinds of profound things about this being the last round of chemo. I'd wax on about what it means to me and how I am hopeful for the future. But honestly, the biggest thing I feel is relief-to be finishing a long, tough course of treatment. I hope that I never have to do this again. I hope this is the end of cancer for me. I hope that Holly and I can get on with our lives and only have to worry about the occasional bone marrow biopsy. We've been through alot, not that we don't have the strength to handle more if that is necessary. But we have done enough, and I'd like us to have a break.

I saw my doctor in the clinic yesterday, and he said that for the next year, I will need to have a bone marrow biopsy every 3 months. There is no other way to look for the leukemia since it starts with the white blood cells in the bone marrow. If I did have a relapse, they would give me some chemo again to put me in remission and then do a bone marrow transplant. Neither my doctor nor I want that, obviously. I want to be in the 75% of people cured by all of this tough stuff I've been doing since June.
Photo: Blue Ridge Parkway