Oh my!...uh...

So as I mentioned on Facebook, my doctor here at UCDMC talked with my doctors in Seattle and they came to the decision that I came to months and months ago...I've had quite. enough. interthecal. chemotherapy. 
Reasons why:
-the 3 weeks of side-effects following each injection about which I have whined in previous posts
-the 3 weeks of a 2nd steroid on top of my prednisone required to alleviate said side-effects
-my cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) was cleared of leukemia cells with first treatment, and has been clear ever since.  The original blast %age was only 8%, I believe.
-there is no empirical evidence that 6 post-transplant treatments are better than 4.

So unless I relapse, I'm done.  DONE.  D to the O-N-E.  Yeah, I said it.

And what, you may ask, is to become of this accoutrement (besides providing you with fodder for your nightmares henceforth)?

The line leading down from the reservoir is a tube that allows the CSF to fill the reservoir.  My Ommaya reservoir is actually towards the front of my head, just above my hairline, and the tube runs down at an angle.  I often referred to the whole apparatus affectionately as my "head port."

Well, Seattle says their standard practice is to just leave it in forever as it probably won't do any harm.  UCDMC says their protocol is to remove it eventually, as the remaining hole in your head will heal and probably won't do any harm.  Either way, it will stay in for some time so my CSF can still be tested periodically without the need for a lumbar puncture (and I'll let you decide how you feel about any procedure containing the word "puncture").  Remember, I actually have 2 holes in my brain, the one filled by my Ommaya reservoir tube, and the "wrong turn" that was apparently taken by the surgeons on their first try (but just one hole in my skull, so I'm...uh...lucky?).  I don't know what effect their handiwork will have on my brain, with the port removed or not.  My doctors wave it off in a "Oh, that ol' part of the brain?  That's not for anything significant anyway" type of way.  And given the neurologic effects of all the IV chemo, radiation, IT chemo, and meds I've had over the past year, who would even notice if these tunnels in my head severed anything important?  Brett suggested I may lose the ability to recognize the number 3 or something (wait, what number?).  What I do know is this: 1.) the port doesn't mess up my hair too much, so I don't have any beef with it at the moment, and 2.) I intend to blame my every moment of idiocy in the future on it.

So this seems to be a good way to go into my one-year cancerversary.  I know the next damn thing will come along--it always does--but for now I'll be just...happy.  Really happy.

love to all,
jq