Yikes, a little behind in our blog! Here's the kiddos on Halloween night pre-trick or treating. Kile went as Max from Where the Wild Things Are, Cavanauh was our own little jack o'lantern, and our friend Kennady was a little monster. The kids were able to dress up twice, once for our annual Pumpkin Carving Party Saturday night, and then again on the 31st.
Beyond all of that activity, it's been a busy couple of weeks highlighted by a visit from my brother, Ian, my sister, Cara, her boyfriend, Andrew and my parents. Can we say "family pictures?" Unfortunately other than for Ian, all of them had their week capped off with the same stomach bug that got me re-incarcerated on the 7th floor of Mercy Hospital for three days before their visit. Stupid white cells AGAIN!!! It's just wrong when nurses and techs walk into your hospital room and say, "don't I know you?" Sigh.
Only one more two day session of the "nasty" drugs this upcoming Tuesday and Wednesday. I'm not sure how long of a break I'll have before starting on the next (and hopefully last) drug which will take me into late February. It's supposed to be slightly kinder and gentler, though I'll be treated more frequently, basically once a week with a week off once a month. I'm sure somewhere in there we'll do a CT scan which I'm totally dreading, but I'm not sure when. We'll also likely consult with Mayo about the radiation issue one more time -- at this point we're probably not going to pursue it since there's no evidence it will help at all and we're concerned about the integrity of my skin and the tissue expander. My oncologist as well as the oncologist at Mayo are in support of that decision which is primarily based on the fact that Sloan Kettering said they wouldn't do radiation in my case. Since they're the expert I think we'll likely go with them!
Anyway, enough medical talk. I'm feeling well most of the time, but I do get a bit tired by about 9pm. Basically I feel like I've been teaching all day but I haven't been! I have one or two higher energy days a week, but most of the time it feels like after school on a Friday afternoon after a full week. One of the chemo side effects seems to be a complete inability to nap so I've just been sitting down a lot catching up on movies or reading. It's terrible, really. Smirk.
Carpe diem - Trela
