Today I had my labs checked and had an appointment with Dr Miranda. My lab values all looked excellent- woohoo! My liver enzymes were only elevated a teensy bit so that is very exciting!! Everything else checked out at my appointment so that means we are good to go with chemo on Tuesday. Due to my adventures with the last round, the plan for premeds is going to change a bit. Hopefully this time around rapid response will NOT be part of my care team! I am SO excited that this is my last treatment!! In some ways the time has really flown by, and in some respects it has seemed to drag on forever! The next phase will involve me having monthly dr appt and lab work. Hopefully these 8 rounds of hard core chemo have done their job and there are no naughty cancer cells still roaming around. My lab work will involve monitoring tumor markers, so if those numbers start to climb, we will immediately hunt those rogue cells down!! My port will stay in place for about 6 months- mostly just in case we need to do a few more rounds of chemo. I think they will utilize my port for surgery as well. I will be able to visit Dr Shale (my fabulous plastic surgeon) in about a month to have my tissue expanders filled once again.  I have to be completely done with chemo and doing great for 3 months before reconstructive surgery can take place. I'm guessing that surgery will probably take place sometime in October. Lucky me- a new chest for my birthday :)! I'm actually quite  anxious to get these dumb expanders out. They are pretty uncomfortable (they are made of metal and plastic) and let's just say they provide a less than natural appearance!! I am trying to practice the virtue of patience!! This week I have returned to work for a few hours every day except Monday. I have struggled a little more than usual with fatigue and the neuropathy (nerves that are angry and sometimes feel like ants are biting my feet) in my hands and feet. This last round also seemed to aggravate some of my neurological issues. My vision has been weird and I have had trouble with some double vision as well. Not my favorite thing, but hopefully just a temporary annoyance! I am hopeful that the chemo brain fog and the neuropathy in my hands and feet is just temporary as well. Dr has been painfully honest in letting me know that sometimes those things are permanent. Only time will tell- I think I suffered from chemo brain BEFORE I started chemo (heehee)!! Tyler will send the update and post to the blog next week because Nicole will be gone. Hopefully all will go smoothly! We send huge love and thanks to everyone!!