Chemo Conquered!

So good news everyone, we are officially done with the chemo phase, woo hoo time to celebrate! Mom completed her 4th round of chemotherapy today like a champ. Dad, me (Andrea) and Mom headed to the clinic around 8:30am this morning, slightly delayed due to the dusting of snow we received. That was quite a rude awakening for me this morning after not seeing the nasty white stuff since pre-Hawaii last December! We snuggled into our room by 10:00am after finding out Mom's labs were perfect yet again and getting the go ahead from our practitioner Heather. It is surprising how "routine" this has become after just 4 rounds even though chemo is something you never truly want to get used to. Roxy was our nurse today and she was fabulous. She loved listening to Mom's stories, which is a blessing since Mom was talking a mile a minute, which we are contributing to her steroids! ("Yeah right says Dad, she always has a motor mouth!") We read magazines, surfed the Internet, did word puzzles and Dad even got some work done. Lindsey came a little later and brought us a tasty Subway lunch and a cake for dessert in celebration! And that was it. We are so blessed to have had such a positive experience through all of this. Our prayers have definitely been answered.

So whats next you ask? Mom will hopefully relax these next 3 weeks and let this final chemo work its course. We are all looking forward to a wonderful Christmas at home together. Then on Dec 28th, Mom will visit North Memorial and Dr. Mestitz again to have her port removed. She will need to heal for a couple of weeks and in the meantime will have the mapping done and tattoos placed in preparation for radiation. Mom will most likely start radiation therapy the second week of January, which will consist of 5 treatments a week for about six and a half weeks. So there you have it. We ask for your continued prayers for strength, healing, and no side effects for the next few weeks. We also pray for safe travels as Lins is heading back out to Vail on Monday for the ski season and me back to Chicago. While we are at it I also ask for prayers for Mom and Dad as they rediscover empty nesting! We hope this update finds everyone well and you all had a great Thanksgiving. This holiday season we have so much to be thankful for in all of you. Have a great day.

Love,
The Peterson's