No chemo this week after all....

Well, today I went in for my appointment.  The nurse drew blood and we were all set to stay for 6 hours.   I had my food and drink supply and my sister was there with me.  Ruthie brought Agustin later because he had a doc appointment.
After the blood was drawn (which is a very simple procedure now that I have a port and no one has to go searching for veins which never can be found very easily), I waited for my doctor, Dr. Paul, to come in and we were going to "talk".
First thing she asked was, do you have plans for Christmas?   I said, of course, we always have a family gathering on Christmas Eve.  This will be the first time I have not sung "O Holy Night" at our early Christmas Eve service in many years.
She then said, would you like to postpone your treatment for a week?   I looked at her in utter shock and amazement because I was all psyched up for not feeling well over Christmas and taking to my room if things got too loud and "happy" with all the kids and grand kids here.   Well, our usual "tradition" is, we meet at Kathy and Joe's for a party after church, the "elves" bring the matching pjs for all the grand kids, they change into the pjs and they open the presents given by the parents and grandparents to the kids.   The  individual "family" Christmas celebrations take place the next morning within each family unit.
Anyway, after Dr. Paul asked me this, I asked her if anything that I had already had been through, would be "lost" if  I didn't keep up the routine.  She assured me it would not be affected!   She told me I could go to church but wear a mask and not hug anyone!  I said, forget that....I probably couldn't handle that part:)
So, we will have our usual Christmas tradition gathering at Kathy's (not here as we had planned) but meet  earlier, like at 5 0'clock instead of after 7:30 PM.
Today has been a strange day because I was so psyched up for the next round, I hope I don't forget how to handle it when it does come around again.
The schedulers actually could not fit me into the schedule until Dec. 29 which means the pump will have to be removed in one of the outpatient sections of either hospital on New Years' Eve (2 days later).  That means New Year's Eve will start the side effects which will last  into the first week of January.
I feel very happy about the change and have been feeling quite well these days.
The doctor asked me about the side effects and I told her how I experienced each one she asked about.   She asked me if I had pain and I told her I do not have pain anymore since I guess, because I am taking the Creon pancreatic enzyme pills 3 times a day.
I am hungry a lot and have gained a few pounds since the last weigh in when I was coming in for fluid.
The blood work looked good to her but she still didn't have complete results from everything which would include the liver and pancreas as I understand it.
So, I wanted to make this update since all my facebook friends are already very well aware of all that happened today.
Before we left the Cancer Center, Margie sat down at the grand piano in the lobby which, by the way, is painted in very colorful bright colors:)   She played "Silent Night" and I sang one verse.  Then, we left, came home, I took a walk around the block with Agustin and then a nice nap.
Not sure if I will be updating this for awhile but may everyone who reads this, please have a safe, healthy, and blessed time of joy and peace within your families!
For those of you not on facebook, here is our latest "Gingerbread House" video.  Enjoy!  I substituted my own singing with a friend and muted the backround conversation of everyone talking and chatting:)