LAST Infusion!

Today is Sarah's LAST chemo infusion! I would warrant, judging from the picture of her first infusion compared to today's photo, that she really has the system down now.

I am not sure of the source of the tiara, flowers and gifts (they may well be from Mom and Grandma), but I wouldn't be surprised if Primary Children's had something to do with it. They really are exceptional. Like Sarah stated previously:

When I go to Primary Children's they make everything really fun. They have everything there. If you're gonna get cancer, that's the place to go.

Next, Sarah has some lower-dose radiation in the "mantle" region. Her PCMC doctor referred her to a physician who was the head of a Nation-wide study of subjects around Sarah's age with the "bulky" version of Hodgkin's Lymphoma (like she has). Because she has had what they define as a "complete response" to the chemotherapy, the radiation will make the chances of recurrence extremely low. At that appointment they should us some of the comparative scans from the beginning of her treatment to the present. I think my Mom and I were glad to have NOT seen the first scan until now; the biggest tumor - larger than I really had comprehended - actually had been pressing her trachea to one side. Now it is back in line. It is amazing.

Soon the Central Broviac® Catheter can go, along with its daily and weekly maintenance (and I imagine a REAL shower will be quite the treat), the prednisone-induced puffiness will go away, and she can, in earnest, grow back her hair. Mind you, the girl has such amazing follicles that she never lost her eyebrows and eyelashes, and in between every chemo round she grows - I swear - a quarter inch of fuzz on her head. No more Sinéad O'Connor references (which had to be explained to her because she's too young) or G.I. Jane comparisons (though I think she got a kick out of that one). Onward and upward, Super Girl!