Week 19, the last week of 2019, was quite a social one around here. monday and tuesday were usual days at work. tuesday evening was new years eve, which was spent at the wolfes. i have spent several new years eves at the wolfes over the years, most of which have involved us watching one of the various network tv specials and wondering who on earth all the performers and presenters are? this year, they must have catered to the x-ennial crowd, because many of the bands were recognizable: green day! alanis! salt n pepa! paula abdul! unfortunately, the performances weren't exactly what we were hoping for, so that was.. a little disappointing. but it was a good evening of catching up, playing games, and hanging out until way past my bedtime.

it should be noted at this point that a slow-growing cold was creeping up on me during the week. by the time i woke up on wednesday, my throat was sore, and coughing was a definite thing that was happening. out of precaution, i called the oncologist's office. they said no worries, do what you would normally do for a cold... as long as there is no fever, you should be fine and it shouldn't interfere with thursday's chemo. satisfied with their advice, that afternoon we headed to andy's parents for new years day, another day of food and board games and just hanging out.

thursday was the first chemo of 2020, with a bit of a twist. it was scheduled for noon instead of our usual 9am, mostly due to patients being scheduled for thursday instead of wednesday due to new years day. given the appointment time, it seemed like a good day to invite paul to hang out with me in the infusion room for a few hours. so andy got the day "off" from chemo duty, and paul came up from athens to retrieve me for lunch and then chemo. he was mostly well-behaved, and even got me an iced mocha while procuring his own iced tea, while i was in benadryl naptime land! it was good to catch up and hang out, despite the clinical environment. we were out of there around 3:30pm, and after some errand running, paul dropped me off at home a little after 4pm, and he headed back down to athens. instead of my usual post-chemo nap, i powered through the evening and had an early pre-9pm bedtime.

friday was back to work, coughing and sneezing still in effect and still annoying. that evening, we made dinner at home, played a board game that did not end up getting high marks from me, and i became snuffly and congested AF and headed to bed early to get some rest.

saturday morning welcomed a visit from katie. she came over around 10am, and we caught up as i tried to drink a steaming hot cauldron of tea to help my congestion and cough. we left andy to his laundry, and katie and i headed out for some hipster pancake balls and veggie cornbread at katalina's in clintonville. we got there at just the right time -- no line at all and we found seats with no problem. it was quite loud though. the day was rainy and not ideal for wandering and exploring, so afterwards, we headed to stauf's in grandview, hoping to chill there and have some coffee. unfortunately, all the tables were full, so we got our drinks to go. so we hung out back at the house with our hot beverages and all was well. very low key and very relaxing. later in the afternoon, dana and nick stopped by while they were visiting columbus. ALL THE FRIENDS THIS WEEK! we all hung out for a bit, though eventually katie departed, and dana and nick kicked their feet up for awhile in our cozy house. after some tire maintenance, they continued on with their columbus adventures. later in the evening, andy and i watched the accountant, which is one of the most WTF movies i have watched in awhile.

sunday morning we churched it up, made a quick trip to kroger, and then headed out for pho with a couple of friends, both of whom are in law school, which does not necessarily sound like fun to me at all. afterwards, we all hung out at our house, played a game, and enjoyed each other's company. the evening has been one of leftovers, blog writing, and taking drugs and drinking tea to try and stop all this coughing [the ongoing, annoying theme of the week]. to be honest, this cold and cough has been the most irritating and distracting thing i have had in the past month or two, even more so than chemo or any side effects. indescribably annoying. i would be very pleased if this went away soon, because i am OVER it. coming up is Week 20 in 2020... let's do this.