Four more months left of chemotherapy

On Treatment
Written By Liz Salmi

I can't believe I've taken this drug for 20 months.

Will I get an award when this is all over? Will I get a ribbon or a certificate of achievement? How about a t-shirt that says, "I was on chemo for 24 months and all I got was this stupid t-shirt"?

The chance at improved health and an extension of life is all I really want. No need for fanfare.

I wonder what it will be like to take this pill for the last time. It will be sometime in April 2011. If I was in front of a calendar I'd post the date but you never know if you'll be held back a week.

Four more months. And then what? How I feel when I am off of treatment? Because I can never take this drug again. I will have maxed out.

If anything changes in my brain (in a bad way) my only options will be more invasive. And I don't want that.

Liz Salmi

Liz Salmi is Communications & Patient Initiatives Director for OpenNotes at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Over the last 15 years Liz has been: a research subject; an advisor in patient stakeholder groups; a leader in “patient engagement” research initiatives; and an innovator, educator and investigator in national educational and research projects. Today her work focuses on involving patients and care partners in the co-design of research and research dissemination. It is rumored Liz was the drummer in a punk rock band.

https://thelizarmy.com
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