Today was my last chemo infusion treatment! I’ll still take the oral chemo pill through Sunday, and there are a couple of other pills the doctor wants me to continue taking for a week, but the end of this stage is clearly in sight. My schedule for St. Louis still hasn’t been finalized. I’ve got a spot on my lower back that’s caused periodic discomfort, okay pain, and they’re scheduling an MRI for that. I’ll have lab work here September 3rd, and an Aredia infusion September 10th. Somewhere in there I’ll need to go to St. Louis for lab work and possibly a bone marrow biopsy, and we’ve got a tentative date of September 11th to start growth factors and harvesting of stem cells.
I thought I’d have some down time before the next phase started, but it doesn’t look like I'll have as much as I thought. Regardless, I’m looking forward to the next steps, getting this behind me and coming out clean on the other side!

Again it's been too long since I've posted. My treatements have been going fine; had one this morning and only have 1 left! I've been keeping busy; the weekend of the 8th we went to a family reunion in Iowa, saw family that we only see once a year and had a really nice time visiting with everyone. This past weekend we took a couple of our nieces to the Butterfly Festival at Powell Gardens, and again had a great time. My energy level seems to be getting better, I can do more for longer periods of time without getting exhausted.
I've been thinking lately about how blessed I am to have the people surrounding me I have. All the prayers and support are definitely helping me; I'm getting stronger and feeling more positive all the time. Each of you, many I've never met or communicated with, have a part in my continuing improvement, and I offer prayers of thanks for you nightly. You're all very special people.
After Thursdays treatment, we'll start making some definite plans for the next steps in St. Louis. I'll let you know the schedule when it gets finalized.

Here's a quick between-cycles update. I had a doctors appointment today and everything's looking good. Just one more cycle before finalizing plans to go to St. Louis.
Mom and dad are both doing better, though dad's improvement is much slower. He's on oxygen now and requires the use of a walker. He's still pretty weak and isn't eating as much as he probably should. He has therapists come in a few times a week, and they seem to see some improvement, so that's a good sign.
Last cycle starts Monday, so just a few days of freedom from the juice left!