Final chemo (kinda)

We invited Jim's mom to come out and stay with us for my final chemo.  My chemo was scheduled for Jim's birthday and I would still not be feeling my best for Christmas so we figured some extra help would be nice.  Turns out that Jim was able to get most of those days off but that was nice to be able to spend it with his mom and to have her here for Christmas.  And the kids made out great on this deal because she loves to bake cookies!!!
In the morning, I did my usual stuff to get ready.  We had grabbed a bag of Sonic ice the night before so I didn't need to go there on my way to chemo like I usually do.  I just had to put it in some ziplock bags so that I could use it later to ice my hands during the Taxotere.  I am very happy that this will be the last time I will have to ice my hands.   So I leave the house with my huge overnight bag packed with things I never really use there.  I stop at McDonalds because I LOVE their oatmeal.  I get an oatmeal and a yogurt parfait- this will get me through until lunch. 
I wasn't quite as scared of this chemo as I thought I would be- especially considering how bad #5 was.  I went in on the 19th, and got my bloodwork, then downstairs to see Helaina- the NP.  I talked to her about how terrible #5 was and she was really worried about it, partially because if I got sick everyone was going to be out for Christmas break so I would have to go to the ER.  She decided that I needed to come in on friday- 2 days after chemo, to get a big bag of fluids.  Then she was worried I would not follow up, so she made an appointment for me to show up on friday, so that I couldn't back out.   After that, I went back upstairs to the chemo room and got hooked up.  No tv today- just a bunch of staring at each other.  A lot of people were sleeping.  I wish I could sleep but I never can in there, even with the benadryl they give me.  I think that the steroids that they also give me fight for attention too so I feel drowsy but can't really sleep and end up just feeling pretty drunk for about an hour.  There was a  family seated next to me wrapping stocking stuffers for Christmas.  They were relatively entertaining, and they gave me m&m's!  The infusion actually went pretty quickly and I got out of there before 4- which is really amazing!  Before I left, one of the nurses brought over a tshirt that was signed by the 4 nurses working that day (usually there are a bunch more but some were sick or gone on vacation) and a pin, because it was my last chemo!  I barely held it together until I got to the car- then I started to cry.  Of course, I had taken Jim's car that day and he does not keep tissues in his car- damn him!
Once I got home, Carole had made a birthday cake for Jim.  Food still tasted good, so it was nice to have some cake.  It was also pretty warm outside, so Jim grilled some steak for dinner.  It was great!