we've made it to Week 6. last i left off, i was having a nice spaghetti dinner with the in-laws. the next day, saturday, was pretty chill, if i recall. mostly puttering around the house, then board gaming with the wolfes for the evening. sunday was church and then watching the browns embarrass the ravens (GO BROWNS!).

monday through wednesday seemed basically normal, going in to work 8-to-5, nothing out of the ordinary. thursday was two weeks to the day of the first round of chemo, and thursday was the day my hair started getting weird. it had been noticeably thinner for a day or two, but thursday was the day i could no longer do my hair as usual without losing more hair than i would prefer. so, minimal hair product, hair is laying low. ok, cool. i can handle this. post-shower, it was prepping for chemo day. this time i remembered to glob on the numbing cream and use the recommended Glad Press and Seal to keep the cream in the right place (Press and Seal works oddly well on human skin... i learn the weirdest things in Cancer Land). arrived at the oncologist's office, got blood drawn, met with dr. m, who declared that my blood counts were normal ("wait, like chemo normal, or normal person normal?" "normal person normal!"), so i was cleared for my second round of chemo. nothing much different as compared to the first round, aside from a different seat, different nurses, and choosing a popsicle instead of plain ice chips for my adriamycin cryotherapy. the nurse slowed down my rate of cytoxan drip (that was the drug that made me sneezy and sinus-y last time), which helped, aside from the saline drip running out halfway through and sort of making the cytoxan more concentrated, nullifying the slower rate. but we got it figured out, and we were out of there at around noon. we ran a few errands, headed home, had dinner delivered (thanks, arin!) and basically chilled out at home.

friday i slept in pretty good, and after a quick lunch of leftovers, it was back to the oncologist's office for my neulasta injection. nothing new, it stung the same way it did for the first round. good times. then we were headed to northwest ohio. there were several reasons to visit for the weekend: high school alumni marching band on friday for homecoming; my dad's birthday; and i hadn't seen my family since getting diagnosed. since i had tolerated the first round of chemo relatively well, it seemed like a good opportunity to go. i can sleep pretty much anywhere, so what does it matter where i am geographically? so andy drove us northwestward, and i basically zonked out for the three hour tour. my mom had an early dinner ready for us, and then it was off to the high school for the annual alumni band. i hadn't been sure i was going to make it at all, so i was a bit of a wildcard, but things had been arranged so that i could join at the last minute, without actually marching across the field for pregame. it was good to catch up with previous directors as well as classmates and fellow alumni, and it was good to be able to join and play trumpet as i had for the last five years. after pregame, it turned into a cold, windy evening (perfect high school football weather, frankly), and we made it through the halftime band performances before heading home. after an hour or two of a nap, i received texts that the game was over, and we joined friends for a post-game gathering to hang out and catch up a little. it was an ambitious day as far as my energy levels, but my body handled it well, and i was thankful to be able to make it through and enjoy all the activities.

on saturday, we had an early lunch at the home restaurant (HOME FRIES 4 EVA). later in the afternoon, my brother stopped by to say hi and drop off a birthday card. eventually i took a shower (more hairs coming loose, causing me to really start planning what to do about that), and it was off to texas roadhouse for my dad (and his twin's) birthday, and then after that, a visit to my grandparents. then, finally, it was back home. it should be noted that in all the between times, i was basically zonked out in the car. so tired. so very tired.

sunday morning was a bit of a blur of meeting up with old friends, seeing people at my parents' church, and lunching. then we packed up the car and headed back to columbus. again, i zonked out in the car for the most part, with andy the ever faithful chauffeur. by this point, i knew that the next time i took a shower and washed my hair, it was going to be a hot mess. so, after dinner, i decided it was time. we set up shop in the foyer, where there is a full-length mirrored door, decent lighting, and a broom sweepable surface. my request for a mohawk was cause for nervousness, as andy had only ever shaved his own head, and certainly not into a mohawk. but we slowly worked up to it. the hawk itself is slightly shorter than either of us intended, but i am happy with the result. what say ye, my Cancer Land fan base? let's do this.