i feel a little bad about these updates. they aren't as exciting as the early weeks, where i was explaining random medical procedures and naming my boobs for no particular reason. but you're still reading, so i suppose excitement isn't necessary. on to Week 10...

monday through wednesday, i reported in to work as usual. thursday was the anniversary of the day andy and i first met in 2015. given my reaction to the previous infusion, we decided to celebrate on wednesday evening. happy meetiversary eve! we first laid eyes on each other on halloween, four years ago, at a diner between columbus and athens (where i was living at the time). it was a rare occasion where halloween actually landed on a saturday, and the classic halloween party in athens was happening that evening. i'm not as crazy about halloween as most athenians are, but lots of things converged, and i had a great costume, which i wore to that first date, and wore to the uptown party directly afterwards. it would have been more impressive if andy had more of a clue who katniss everdeen was, but whatever, hunger games was a thing, and i looked badass. anyway, though sometimes we celebrate at that actual diner, mostly we substitute dk diner in grandview for practicality. also, it is delicious. and also: DONUTS.

thursday, halloween, was my last infusion of the first set of chemo drugs (AC: adriamycin and cytoxan). with colonel sanders supervising the front desk, we were checked in by some nurse chickens. the scheduling department was doubling as the cast of Grease. the joker and green lantern were wandering the halls as well, and i believe there were some thieves in the blood draw section. the infusion room rolled out the red carpet for a miss america pageant. i was greeted with a "howdy" by miss texas, my nurse for the day. the infusions went as normal, unfortunately including the sinusy sneezy cytoxan side effects. but, in my recycled and modified rosie the riveter getup, i did it, and these drugs are OVER. the oncologist is happy that the drugs have had their intended effect (the tumor has decreased in size after each visit). high fives all around. hopefully the next set of drugs (taxol) will have less side effects. we switched around some of my nausea meds after this treatment, which seemed to help somewhat. i still spent most of thursday afternoon and evening on the couch, though the nausea seemed slightly less bad than last time.

friday was the last of my neulasta injections. after that appointment, we went mailbox shopping. you know, your typical afternoon. we had woken up that morning to find that the mailboxy part of our mailbox was in the street. it is unclear whether it was halloween hooliganism, or the windy weather. (or, perhaps, if it was just time for our weirdly constructed mailbox to go). andy sort of figured out how the thing was assembled, and we found a suitable replacement "for now". we didn't want a boring ass mailbox, but then again, time is limited with frost season and then again, let's be honest, it's just a mailbox. we made peace with the fact that we would indeed be proud owners of a boring ass mailbox. andy did most of the installation, while i, of course, measured out exactly where the adhesive numbers would be placed on each side of the mailbox because i am NOT coming home to crooked numbers every day of my life. priorities. for whatever reason, i had plenty of energy that day. we made dinner and finished the handmaid's tale that evening, and i don't think i even took one nap that day. no idea why, but i'll take it.

saturday was quite the opposite as far as energy. i'm not sure i did much aside from watching youtube and playing around on my laptop. someday, andy will be able to relax on the living room couch, but this is not that season. i think i was on the couch all day. end of list. so tired.

at some point during breakfast or getting ready on sunday, i said, "can we just skip this part where i have cancer, and fast forward to where i don't anymore?" no particular reason, just feeling achy and unwell, but andy was on board with it. not sure who to register that complaint with, but i have a feeling there will be no skipping and no fast forwarding. unexpectedly saw kate and barry at church, which was nice. after that, it was more napping on the couch, then dinner making and browns watching and wondering what cleveland ever did to deserve such terrible outcomes year after year.

today is a monday of resting at home and looking forward to the magic of the off-thursday, the thursday where i turn into a 100% human again. sort of boring, but not so bad as days go. let's do this.