Round 6/6, already? Finally?

Here I am, sitting and getting my last scheduled round of chemo.  It has been a bit of a journey to get here but boy am I glad the end is only hours away.  I was a little concerned that I wouldn't make it this far from some of the recounts of others' experiences but my body has continued to be strong and resilient.  My blood work even improved in some areas this last round, much to the amazement of the docs.  I did manage to catch a small cold last week that is still hanging on but it is on its way out.  As a result of still having a bit of a runny nose, I'm wearing a mask and in isolation from the other patients here to help prevent those with compromised immune systems from catching my germs. 

Here at SCCA (as in most medical facilities) it is commonplace to see people with masks on.  I do find it interesting how our culture perceives people outside of medical facilities who wear masks.  I know my initial reaction is that they are either paranoid of catching something or infected with the plague.  In reality it would probably be better for all of us if we wore a mask when we know we are infected with some sort of communicable disease.  In my travels to China I have observed many people wearing masks in public areas and it seems to be more accepted.  They are in fact doing everyone else a favor in not trying to infect everyone.  I have even seen some masks that have designer patterns to be more aesthetically pleasing.  I guess in areas with such high population density it is probably a good idea to do whatever you can from preventing disease from spreading (Hong Kong is nearly the most population dense country in the world with over 6000 people per square km, the USA has 31/sq.km).  Anyways, enough soap box talk.

After today, the doc is giving me a 3 week break before we do scans again to assess the situation.  I will then talk with the urologist surgeon to figure out our plan of attack.  It won't be minor surgery and I may even get to stay in the hospital for a week afterwards (my first hospital sleepover, I won't forget my blanket).  I am still nervous and hopeful for good scan results as this is the next pivotal checkpoint.  We are hoping for tiny tumors and no spread.  If things are moving the other direction there won't be much point in doing surgery.  I'm very thankful that I have been able to survive through this treatment with minimal side effects.  I'm very much looking forward to be able to get back to some regular exercise so that a flight of stairs doesn't put me out of breath and I don't require 16 hours of sleep in a day.  Hopefully that is only a short couple months away.