This has nothing to do with the subject of this site, except that you can't beat proud kid moments to keep your spirits up during chemo wipe-out.  This is Henry's new scheme.  I recorded a video of him reading a library book yesterday morning and it was too long to text to the grandparents.  Therefore, he decided we should put it on YouTube and he would start a YouTube series titled Reading With Henry.  Due to the good work of his school librarians, he is familiar with the Caldecott sticker on books and declared that he would only read Caldecott award-winning books.  (I have since referenced the winner lists and confirmed that we own 22 Caldecott medal or honor winners to get us started!)[...]

Awwww shucks. [...]

I try to make this blog or my social media accounts honest, within reason. If I edit a photo, I think I am making the photo better represent how I saw the moment - when the camera was unable to replicate how I felt in the moment. Still, I probably won’t share my least favorite photos of myself because I’m human. And I won’t share sensitive private moments - heartbreaking conversations about a mean thing said at school, my irrational picking of fights with the husband when I’m grumpy (which is hypothetical of course and would never ever happen), etc. Actually, maybe I would share a photo of dirty cycling socks on the floor in FRONT of the laundry but not IN the laundry 😉[...]

See photo of last week’s towel dried hair and today’s new look 👀 

Everyone(!) told me hair loss from my drug combo hits between the second and third treatment. I noticed yesterday morning, before leaving for #2, that I could pull out bunches of hair pretty easily. By bedtime it was larger clumps. During a mostly sleepless night, I kept imagining hair on my face or in my mouth. I figured it needed to go ASAP. [...]

So far, manageable. Once again tired and foggy brained with mild nausea managed by frequent snacking and metallic taste in my mouth. 

Today was also the first day of real hair loss!  It’s not noticeable to others but I can now pull out small clumps. Stay tuned for shaved head photos soon!  Conveniently, I received the cute free head wrap in the mail today, right on time, from: http://www.goodwishesscarves.org[...]

Hey friends who keep asking how you can help - see the new events added to the calendar here:  

https://posthope.org/not-a-big-fan-of-pink/calendar[...]

In the hopes of not clogging the drains in my home, I decided to go pixie before the hair loss starts. I’m told it typically happens after the second treatment. So I’m calling this a two week haircut.  Therefore I couldn’t justify paying my usual haircut rate and I went to Hair Cuttery!  I spent an insanely long time as she slowly cut it shorter and shorter and told me how I could heal myself with onions, garlic and yoga  [...]

For those on pins and needles wondering how I’m faring post chemo #1, see photos.  

The best way to describe how I have been feeling is: pregnant. NO, I’M NOT!  It’s just that I’ve had very similar symptoms.  Metallic taste in my mouth that caused me to finish off all the pickles in the house in 24 hours. Low-level nausea managed by frequent small meals. (Unfortunately my “small meals” may be regular meal size for others. So I’m not feeling optimistic about the direction my body weight may go during this time.)[...]

Fortunately getting to chemo was less eventful than getting to the port placement appointment last week. And all went smoothly. This time my running buddy Wilmarie drove me, sat beside me working the entire time, and taking notes on her computer whenever the nurse chatted with me!  There is something special about regular running partners - a combination of friend, family, therapist and trainer. If you don’t have one, you should find one, or more ❤️  [...]

I had a nice detailed plan for today. My friend Molly would pick me up at 10:30. I would have more than enough time to arrive at the medical office, complete paperwork and get in for my procedure by 11:00am.  Building in some buffer to the estimate I was given when the procedure was scheduled, I figured we could be out of there by 12:30.  [...]