Fun fact, when chemo is over, hell is not.

We have all learned in the process that chemo kills cells, good and bad ones. The bad ones are the kill you kind, but the good ones keep you healthy and defensive. White blood cells are the little fighters of all the crazy germs that end up in your body – Food particles, common cold, foot fungus all started with the white cells trying to fight it like crazy. Chemo also keeps cells from multiplying. Therefore, once the cell counts are down, they stay down.

Last chemo may have been a ‘yeah’ for everyone, but the cells are still in crisis. So the days after chemo number 12 are forever known as shot days. I’m talking shot after shot after shot after shot of Neprogen. And let’s all be real, I love my nurses and have formed quite an attachment to the British Hospital, (or as I like to call it BH. BH and I…we’re tight) but after that last chemo, I did not want to have to figure out scheduling the back and forth from the hospital and school just for some five-second shots! Especially, when we have a trained nurse at school. So, I decided to make one trip to the hospital pharmacy and ask for all of my shots.

In a moment of slight pharmacist panic (as if a person has never asked to administer these shots themselves or something), I was handed a box that looked like a kidney donation vessel. Packed full of ice packs, the box held three pre-medicated syringes. I was given clear instructions to get the box to a refrigerator – stat!  I really did feel like time was running out to get the viable kidney to the dying child. I think all of Mom’s Grey’s anatomy watching was rubbing off on me.

I took the box to our nurse, Elisa. And everyday I went to Elisa’s office at 10am sharp, rolled up my sleeve and got my shot. Plus a sticker and a stamp because I was a good girl and didn’t cry. I must say, had she thrown in a lolly-pop I would have figured out ways to hurt myself just to go to the nurse’s office.

What a pleasure! The shots were not, but at least I wasn’t experiencing crippling back pain. In fact, I really didn’t have many symptoms at all. I few muscle twinges here and there but nothing crazy or even annoying really.

Thursday was my blood work, and once that came back fine, it was party time. Then a whole different round of shots preceded…more on that next.