Monday, January 7, 2013

THE END.



THE END OF CHEMO! And the beginning of the next chapter of life. I can't believe today is the last day of chemo, hopefully ever! I have made it through 18 treatments and 2 major surgeries. I've lost my hair, twice. And I've experienced life in a whole new way. I must say, there are a few things that I will not be missing. That includes: having no eyebrows, having no nose hairs, nose bleeds at least once a day, chronic sore throat, feeling out of shape all the time, short/no hair, constant worry about getting sick, and the Benadryl induced comas. I will however miss some things like: getting to spend every Monday with my mom all day including going out to lunch and gettin' our nails did, all the friends I've met at chemo, and having an excuse for why I can't get out of bed before 9am.
Me and my chemo boyfriend. I told him we're gonna have to split up for a while.
I've heard it takes about a month for the side effects of the chemo to truly wear off so I get at least 4 more weeks of sleeping in :) Ha jk, but seriously. I used to be a 7am kind of girl and now it feels like the middle of the night waking up any time before nine. I am looking forward to getting a little more energy. I mean I've had quite a bit for someone going through chemo, but running is killing me. I get slower and slower and I never feel like I'm getting more in shape. At least when a normal out of shape person starts working out they slowly get better and it slowly gets easier. For me I started exercising as soon as I could after surgery but it just got harder and harder. It has been really hard for me actually. Emotionally I mean.

Seeing this awesome therapy dog today was not hard though. He was so big and nice and soft and nice and I love him!!!!
My friend Michelle. She has been doing chemo for 2 years and doesn't know when/if she'll ever get to be done :( She is the cutest little lady.
Lately, I have heard a lot of people say "2012 was such a horrible year, I am so glad it's over" or "2012 really sucked, hope 2013 is better". I guess I could say that. But honestly, 2012 was not a horrible year. It didn't suck and I don't wish for it to be any different (well, I mean it'd be great to not have cancer, but I do so no sense in wishing it away now). I had a really great past year. Lots of good things happened. Lots of great things happened. I grew and learned so much and had a lot of opportunities to reach out to others and meet new people. Although I had a lot of hard things happen in 2012, overall it was good. I competed in my last season as a collegiate athlete. I graduated from college. I survived 2 awful surgeries and 17 weeks of chemotherapy (the 18th week being in 2013). I got to reconnect with a few friends and spend a lot of time with both friends and family. I got to read lots of books, take lots of naps, and get so many needles poked in me they don't phase me at all anymore.
The nurses all sang to me! And gave me a certificate and blanket. It was so awesome.


I am so excited to be a chemo grad. I know I may possibly have to experience it again in the future, but I hope it isn't for a long time. I definitely will miss my mommy-daughter dates, but maybe we can start a new more fun Monday tradition. As much fun as sitting in the hospital for hours was, I bet we can find a more exciting past time to enjoy together.

My mom got me this way cute necklace! The heart on mine says "courage" and the bead is teal, for ovarian cancer. Cute!! I have the greatest mom.

My journey isn't over. It has really hardly begun. I have so much ahead of me!

Joy in the journey. Joy in every moment. Find it.


Yes, I used to love Miley Cyrus before she went off the deep end.

7 comments:

  1. congrats Kalina! It was great seeing you skiing!! You are truly amazing.

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  2. Congradulations and good luck to you. You ate such an inspiration!!

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  3. Congrats and may God, continue to shower His blessings down upon you, Sterling and your family. The lessons, you are teaching us all, are priceless. The courage and bravery, you are teaching us all, are the values Jesus Christ, taught while He served, His mission, here upon this earth. You are the strongest person we know. We admire you and love you with all our heart. Love Gary and Isabell

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  4. I am not giving up my mommy-daughter dates on Mondays but I'm sure glad we can do better things now. Thanks for letting me be the one to share your chemotherapy days with you. Thanks for being my inspiration and strength.

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  5. God bless you, Kalina.

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  6. What an AMAZING person you are, and such an inspiration!

    You deserve a 2013 void of surgery and chemo, and as hospital and needle free as possible! I think about you often and you are in my prayers, wishing you all the best!

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  7. Kalina, I want to tell you thank you for the example of encouragement and strength you have been to me. What amazing me is you took a very bad situation or bad luck as others would call it and instead of dwelling in self pity you chose to rise to occasion. I love that you have been honest about every hard choice or expressed fear and concerns and you still kept everything so positive and so real. Thanks for truly being an inspiration to me. I have always read your blogs and walked away a better person. I love you. Aunt Cindy

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Thanks for your comments! I love them all, it makes me feel so loved :) Feel free to comment as much as you want :D

Sorry about the capatcha thing, I was getting so many nasty spam comments so I had to put it on. I hate them too!