Mets Day 560 - debating whether to do round 3

My recovery from round 2 of ddMVAC has been a long slog.  Yesterday I met with my oncologist, Dr. Aragon-Ching, and told her that I was at around 60% -- better than the week before, but still easily fatigued and lacking in stamina.  I told her that I was glad that we already had agreed to push roud 3 off a week, because there was no way that I felt ready to plunge back into the chemo hole this week.  I added that I was trying to decide whether to go forward with round 3 at all.  I was most worried about long-term deficits created by chemotherapy, and whether the chemo burden would permanently weaken my immune system and organs. 

Dr. Aragon-Ching acknowledged that, with each round, the cumulative chemo burden increased.  She could not quantify the risk of permanent damage, but said that it could not be ignored.  She said that my labs were ok, and was glad that my mouth sores finally had gone away.  She agreed that it would be likely that my recovery from round 3 would take longer than round 2.  We decided to leave round 3 tentatively scheduled for next Wednesday, and that I would decide early next week whether to do forward with it. 

We also agreed that I would pause after round 3, and not do any more chemo for at least a couple of months.  I'll have a CT scan in early November, then another scan in January, and we'll see whether there is any progression of the distant metastases.  In the meantime, I'm not going to let chemo ruin what might be my last holidays with my family. 

This weekend, Chelsea and Josh will be blessing baby Rose. In the LDS Church, a blessing is similar to a christening, where family and friends gather to celebrate the new family member.  We'll be hosting several extended family members at our place for a few days.  In addition, this weekend is is Jennifer and my 30th wedding anniversary. We knew we'd have a full house which will be a wonderful way of celebrating. 

A couple of days ago, Jennifer and I spontaneously decided that we'd continue our anniversary celebration by booking a last-minute cruise, departing in mid-November.  We'll drive up to NYC on Friday November 15, catch a Broadway show and stay overnight in the city.  The next day we'll board the Norwegian Gem for a 9 day trip around the Eastern Caribbean.  We'll be home on Monday, November 25.  The Gem is the same class as the Jade, which we took on our Adriatic cruise this summer.  We're looking forward to lots of time in the spa. 

We're unaccustomed to doing something so spontaneous, but now that our kids are largely self-sufficient, we decided to seize the opportunity while I'm still feeling ok.  Carpe cruisum.