the new weekly normal is developing here. monday through wednesday, went in to work like a normal person. wednesday evening had the added bonus of hanging out with serena and jen over pho and other dishes... always an entertaining time with these ladies.

thursday was infusion day, the second round of taxol. for the first round, i was pretty amped up due to wondering about the NEW DRUG SIDE EFFECTS, of which there basically ended up being none. this time, i was a little more relaxed, and i think as a result, i felt the benadryl's effects. about ten minutes after that drip started, i got hit with a little bit of the sleepies... at least now i know that benadryl makes me drowsy, not hyper. yay science? i sort of dozed until it was almost time for the taxol to begin, which meant it was time to bust out all of the ice packs for a chilly hour. but other than the benadryl and slight drowsiness, still no major side effects. after i got all unhooked, we were ready to roll, taking care of a couple of errands. the original plan was to drop me off at home while andy then visited the bmv nearest to us. however, our errands were sort of taking us right by a different bmv... and, well, it only seemed fair that with all the hours of waiting for me during chemo, i could put in some waiting hours for him. (in retrospect, perhaps wading into all of humanity at the bmv directly after receiving chemotherapy was perhaps not the greatest idea for my immune system. but this is not foreshadowing! no illnesses contracted in this story). the particular branch we went to had a weird setup (several different lines, random triage methods, gospel music playing, among other things), but i think we were out of there in less than an hour. then it was homeward bound, where i finally got a couple of hours of napping in.

friday was back to work, with an evening of greek food, and catching up on the good place and fleabag. saturday was a lazy morning, with lunch brought by a friend, and an afternoon of hanging out with said friend and shenanigans and games with her kids.

throughout all of this, there has been one new development... the introduction of HOT FLASHES WOOOOOOO. funny thing about chemotherapy, it screws around with your hormones and can induce temporary (in my case probably permanent) menopause. so that's a fun time. as someone who is generally much colder than my husband, it is a weird change of pace to be the one throwing covers off in the middle of the night. and it's not like my general temperature has increased -- nope, still usually cold -- it just randomly spikes every once in awhile. so it's not like turning the temperature down is a total solution. for now it's just running the ceiling fan and toughing it out every couple of hours in the middle of the night. so goes Week 13... sweating it out in Cancer Land. let's do this.

tuesday was a brief return to a formerly common occurrence at the beginning of this process: another scan! technically, just a simple ultrasound, but it felt oddly comforting. two and a half months ago, every new procedure and scan was a reason for anxiety and an opportunity for more bad news. this particular scan was just to monitor my progress before moving on to the new regimen of taxol. the tumor had pretty obviously been decreasing in size; mostly this was just for official tests to be added to my charts and records. so back into the white spa robe, hgtv world in all the waiting rooms, and ultrasound goop all over hillary and the neighboring lymph nodes. after about half an hour of ultrasounding, the technician left me to my own devices while the radiologist looked over the results. after wiping all the goop off and robing back up, i was a little bored. i looked behind me and realized that there were two computer screens filled with my own ultrasound images, so i took a boob pic selfie in front of them, because i am mature. finally, the tech and radiologist came back, and confirmed that the cancer in both the breast and the lymph nodes had decreased in size, with no progression of disease. in short, the news was expected and welcomed, and things are going according to plan.

wednesday was uneventful, aside from the general anticipation of the new drug regimen the next day. thursday we arrived bright and early for the usual: check-in, blood draw, meet with dr. m, infusion. we discussed scheduling, blood levels, and ultrasound results with dr. m, who was very happy with our progress. then it was down to see what mysteries awaited me with taxol. i had been told that taxol is much easier than the previous chemo drugs BUT YOU NEVER KNOW. one of the different side effects is possible neuropathy (tingling and loss of sensation) in fingers and toes, so i came armed with cold gel pack sock things for my feet and cryomax ice packs for my hands. it looked a little silly, but i'll take silly over temporary and/or permanent nerve damage. the process was all much the same as previous infusions, with anti-nausea meds first, and the addition of benadryl to alleviate any adverse allergic reactions. the taxol began, and i was monitored by both the nurse (susan) and andy for any weird changes (rashes, blood pressure, oxygen levels, etc) just in casies. after about fifteen minutes, susan declared me clear of any possible issues, and set my taxol drip for a normal rate (about an hour). i kept watching and waiting for any blood pressure drops or lightheadedness or nausea, but all was well. there was a moment when i moved my left arm and realized OMG MY WHOLE HAND IS TINGLING, but yeah, i just hadn't moved it in awhile, and it had started falling asleep. nothing to see here. and then that was it. we came home, had lunch, i took a two hour nap, and... that was it. no side effects. i'll take it.

went in to work on friday, much to the surprise of my coworkers. i assumed i would not be in that day, but had never really felt less than 100% human after thursday's chemo. win.

saturday was a little random. slept in, finished a board game we had started the night before (which i surprisingly disliked quite a bit), and replaced the light in the laundry room (possibly the last of the house's light fixtures i wanted to replace). later in the evening, we went to a friend's album release party, which involved a couple of outdoor heaters of varying complexity, and an outdoor show on their back deck. and no noise disturbance warnings issued! as far as i know.

today was your typical sunday. church, a meal with andy's family, a nap, dinner at home, and writing this blog. all in all, i'd say Week 12 was pretty good. given how uneventful the new infusions seem to be, i may or may not continue to write weekly. perhaps i will, but they will be more brief. who knows? time will tell. let's do this.

monday of Week 11 was a day of resting at the house, and ended with an evening catching up with friends over dinner. tuesday and wednesday were partial work from home days, which continue to be an amazing option i am thankful for. i think at some point we caught up on the good place and started watching fleabag. i fully enjoyed phoebe waller-bridge as L3-37 in the star wars Solo movie, and her quirkiness does not disappoint in fleabag.

thursday was 100% human day, back in to work. that evening was a mix of shopping, packing, and prepping, in anticipation of our mini-vacation. when it was confirmed that the long veterans day weekend would be an off-chemo weekend for me (the last off-chemo weekend for quite some time, as my weekly infusions would be starting the next week), we thought we should take advantage of it. we wanted to get out of town -- but not too far out of town, in case i was feeling weird -- and so, we decided to head east and explore pittsburgh.

we both worked shorter days on friday, and were packed up and headed out by mid-afternoon. it was a pleasant three hour drive. we stopped for dinner before heading downtown, to the andy warhol museum. we paid our 1/2 price friday admission and entered the weird, pop art world of warhol. then it was a few blocks away to check in to our.. not exactly a hotel, more like a.. branded airbnb apartment? ours was a one bedroom, with a fully functioning kitchen, washer and dryer, and views of the city out of wall-to-wall windows in the living room area. it was all very chic and modern, in a way that i would not find comfortable day-to-day, but nice and sleek for a city visit. we got all of our stuff up from the car, which was parked in the attached and oh-so-cramped parking garage, and settled in for the night.

i had chosen the location for its walkability, and walk we did on saturday. first we headed to point state park, which, if you are at all familiar with pittsburgh or classic photos of it, is located at the point of the golden triangle. it is where the ohio, allegheny, and monongahela rivers meet, which if you really think about it, is a whole hell of a lot of water going on. from there we walked to the strip district, which is where it seemed everyone else in pittsburgh decided to go as well. i'm not sure if it's always that busy, or if it was just packed with steelers fans for the weekend's home game, but i would have been okay with a lot less people. just sayin. it's an interesting area of the city, lots of food markets, steelers gear, restaurants, steelers gear and did i mention steelers gear? we arrived at the s&d polish deli, near the far end of the strip district, ready for lunch. the menu online listed all sorts of pierogies, kielbasa, haluszki, and cabbage rolls. sadly, we discovered at the counter that the slovakian (dumpling) haluszki listed online was no longer on the menu. sad slovak face. we ordered a platter including kielbasa, pierogies, polish (noodle) haluszki, and a cabbage roll. it was all delicious, though the pierogies were the stand out for me.

on the way back from the strip district, it was becoming apparent that a blister was forming on my heel. ouch. so much for walkability. we made it back to our room, assessed the situation, and decided to limit walking for the rest of the day. after a short nap, we hopped in the car, bought a few things at a local grocery store, had dinner at a bougie tavern, and ended the evening playing a board game.

on sunday, we fashioned some cushioning for my blister and set out for the day. we began with a drive to the duquesne incline, which is more or less a small train car operating on the side of a hill, overlooking pittsburgh. originally built for daily functionality to transport goods and people up and down the steep hill, it is mostly just a tourist attraction now... it does make for a good view. after that, we got coffee at a small coffee shop, and then toured the frick car and carriage museum. not sure i had ever seen a model t in person, but now i have!

while still out and about, we had dinner, then headed back to the parking garage. from there, we walked to the arcade comedy theater. for a little over an hour, we watched three different comedy improv teams do their best to make us laugh. on our walk back, the steelers-rams home game was just recently finished, and downtown had plenty of happy football fans. we made it back, played a board game, and then it was lights out.

monday we packed up and checked out, wandered the city for a bit, and headed home to ohio, not wanting to be too late with the impending winter weather. all in all, it was nice to get out of town for awhile and do some exploring. this week begins the first of twelve weekly infusions of taxol. i've got some cryotherapy gel packs for my fingers and toes, and a hope that side effects from this drug will be even less than the previous ones. let's do this.

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.