We Are Finished!!!

Hopefully this will be my last post ever! I am very excited to write this... it's been a while since I have updated everyone. Layne has been able to complete all 12 rounds of his chemotherapy. We are all so proud of him. Sometimes at the end they have to adjust your medication so it is not as strong if the paralysis in your hands doesn't go away. Thankfully the tingling would go away in-between each cycle and thankfully there have been no hiccups since Christmas. We did get a phone call this week saying his white blood cell count was too low from the sample they took on Monday and if it didn't go up when they tested his blood again on Wednesday we would have to postpone his last round. They told us this was quite common at the end of chemo but we were all so excited for him to be done we really hoped the levels would go up. Thankfully they did and he was able to go ahead on Wednesday with his last round.

Starting his last round

Layne had a busy week this week. On Tuesday he travelled to Calgary for a PET scan with his Mom and Rusty. They do this scan to make sure the cancer hasn't spread while doing chemotherapy. Layne was able to get the results of that when he went in to his final appointment and get his bottle taken off today. The scan was clean! At this time there is no cancer showing anywhere in his body. We are all so excited. It looks like things are finally going in our favour. I was able to drop Layne off at his final appointment and Jackie, Rusty and Ty picked him up. They brought balloons and timbits for all the nurses. I guess Ty was very hesitant to give them up! haha

Registering for his PET scan

Getting ready for the scan

Thank you Jackie and Rusty for taking him to Calgary

Donuts and balloons!

Saying goodbye to the cancer centre (well for a month anyways haha)

He will now have to get the port in his chest flushed every month, get blood work drawn every three months, get a CT scan of his chest, abdominal and pelvic area every year and get a sigmoidoscopy every year as follow up. So we are not done with everything but we are glad he will be closely monitored. They say it takes 6 months to a year to finally feel back to normal following chemotherapy. So even though he is done today we still have a while before we can get back to normal life.

A final thank you to everyone who helped us out over the past 8 months. We are truly blessed to have such great friends and family. We have been well looked after. We could never repay all the help we have received but will try everyday. It's funny how trials like this make you more aware and sympathetic of all those around you. When you are looking, it is easy to serve others. I am so grateful to have a husband like Layne. He rarely got discouraged throughout these past 8 months. He has been an example to all of us. I am thankful that I have a belief in God, that I believe there is a purpose to this life. Because of this, we are able to find joy even in the darkest of times.

Things are seeming to work out for us. We have sold our house in Lethbridge. It looks like we have found a place to rent in Magrath and it looks like Layne might be able to do his final practicum in Magrath (fingers crossed). The kids and I are heading to Florida in 2 days with my family to visit all of my extended family. Layne is unable to travel to the US for 90 days, so i am being a mean wife and going without him. This will give him a few weeks to recuperate from his final round. It takes that long for him to feel somewhat normal anyways, so it will be a nice break for him. At the end of May if Layne is feeling up to it we are going to take a long road trip to BC to visit Layne's cousin and then travel back across through Seattle to visit his mission. This will probably be the only time both of us will be off work together ever in our lives (I love maternity leave), so we are going to make the best of this summer.

Today is a good day!