Neil and I have been carrying on well since my last post two months ago. My final treatment of the six will be in just over a week--Monday, 12/30. My survivor friends say the last is the worst, and given how well my body and soul have handled treatments 4 and 5, the worst should be manageable. 

Mostly the last two months have not been a story of physical pain and suffering; rather a story of accepting the process by changing my lifestyle to allow for the healing. The blues part of this post was simply limiting activity and being still, and being stubbornly resistant to that. So sad, and so blue! The effects of the treatments have made me progressively more tired, as everyone predicted, but I did not anticipate the ongoing challenges with neuropathy and general other indescribable yuck. I learned that all of this was rather easily mediated by simply giving in. Neil continued to remind that my job was to rest, and so I was stopped by the reality of this. I nap a lot and relish the days when I can share quality time with everyone, and I still over do it, knowing the neuropathy and yuck will be payback for the next few months and maybe years. Mostly it's worth it:)

Most intriguing is how bodies undergoing chemo (and actually all bodies) continue to take the stem cell hits and rebound. Even over the spare three weeks between each treatment, my blood counts rebuild, and I perk up more as the days pass. The neutrophils apparently are the ones to watch. They comprise the majority of the white blood cells and are infection fighters and marshal other cells to mount a strong immune response. So far throughout the treatment process, mine need at least 21 days to replenish to the point that my system can take another hit. 

The idea that our bodies really do replace most parts of themselves every seven to 10 years is why we see survivors and there is often hope for better health for all of us. Red blood cells have a life of about four months, and white ones a year. Watch what you eat and breathe! I think of my reds and my whites when I get the blues and am assured that the healing goes on and on. 

https://www.livescience.com/33179-does-human-body-replace-cells-seven-years.html