Update on Chemo #8

Liz writes:

"Hey there,
I missed last week, but here's an update on the LAST CHEMO!


This week was my LAST CHEMO treatment!  I am thrilled to be done with it.  I hope to never see the inside of the outpatient infusion center again!  This time I was lucky to have the company of my wonderful friend Sara, who pampered me with a lovely foot and hand massage before having to leave;  then Emma came, bringing yummy pad thai for lunch--it means a lot to me that Emma was with me for both my first and last treatments.  It feels like a lifetime since I was diagnosed...instead of just five months.

I have a lot of appointments coming up, including an MRI and follow-ups with the whole team...after that I'll know for sure whether I'll need radiation treatments (but it's highly likely that I will).  My surgery date for the double mastectomy is July 5th; I'm very nervous about that, but will try to enjoy this month of June and not think too much about the surgery.  We have India's and Lily's birthdays coming up, a week at the beach, and trips to the pool to take my mind off cancer-related things.

We have very good news on the financial front:  after receiving a bill from the hospital recently for $60,000 (!), we then finally got confirmation that we were approved for hospital financial aid through the month of June.  So that bill has been knocked down from $60,000 to $0!!!!  What a weight off of our shoulders.  We still have about $12,000 in bills from various doctors who are not hospital employees plus our insurance premiums, deductible and co-payments...and we haven't even gotten to the surgery or radiation...
The average cost of breast cancer treatment that is quoted in the corner of this blog doesn't seem very accurate, in my case at least!  But we are very very grateful for all the financial help the hospital has given us so far.  And very very grateful for all the generous donations that have helped us get through this time!

I don't know how many people have been actually reading this blog :)...but it has been tremendously helpful for me to have this outlet to write about my experience; I've never been much of a writer, but it has definitely been therapeutic for me.  I will keep posting this summer about the results of my scans and appointments, and about the surgery, radiation, and (later in the fall) the reconstruction surgery.

Love you all,
Liz"