Cycle 11

Just a quick report in on how chemo is going. I just finished Cycle 11 on Tuesday. One cycle = 3 weeks = 2 weeks of 3 pills twice day then one week off. Overall it's going super well. However, around day 12, 13, 14 my well runs dry. I get really tired by the end of the day. By 8pm I'm on the couch, asking Glenn to bring me a plate of food. And like a child, I ask him to count down so I can get the energy to go upstairs, brush my teeth and crash. The other thing that's more or less under control is the skin on the soles of my feet. I have to be pretty careful as I tend to get cracks that really hurt and make it hard to walk. Lots of pumice stone, foot soaks in Epsom salts and heavy use of creams/emolients with socks. I'm a barefoot girl but I also know I don't want to end up lame. Occasional nausea. That's about it. How long? The Vixen says 3-4 years. God knows where we will be by then. (I spend a lot of time in angst about POTUS. What if he's re-elected?) I'm going crazy preparing new work for a show at Galatea Fine Arts in Boston in November. I'm often up ridiculously early to work in my studio. I'm working more than ever. Probably too much. I had a supervisor years ago who said, "always work at the top of your license". I continue at the hospital 3 days a week and then 2 very full days of private practice, all remote. This picture was taken on Saturday night by Maureen who has stayed with us on and off all summer. She arrived from NYC just as we put together this cocktail party. Feeling blessed in spite of cancer/chemo. These days it's like if you have work/money and aren't sick with Covid, all is well. Well enough.

Spinach in your teeth

 Glenn took this pic this morning. He always teases me that I'm dressed up to hike. He will say, " they are all talking about you... look what she's wearing!". It's funny because I rarely run into anyone in the woods. I put on whatever I was wearing the day before... since I work at home, I find myself dressing up just because I like it. No one ever sees me. Other than sometimes the trail maintenance crew of the school. But here I am with my girls, Sasha and Acadia. We don't hike with Sasha anymore because she gets so lame the next day. She's 10 now and favors her back leg. She barks like crazy as we take off but it's best for her. So it's often just me and Acadia. Since there have been a few bear sightings in our yard, we bought bear bells that I take along. I feel like Heidi with her goats. Supposedly the sound warns them off. I'd probably just fall over dead if I saw one up close. 

Another weird title.. spinach in your teeth. What?

Yesterday I had a virtual visit with The Vixen. I had blood drawn last week. I hesitantly mentioned my interaction with the NP who I saw last time, and she agreed that she was not a good hire. She laughed about noting in my chart that I had dirty feet and I was anxious to get my results. She then said, "did she also document that you had spinach in your teeth?". We got a good laugh out of that.

She's magic. We started out the visit with her showing me her new 12 week old female black English lab. So I called my girls over and showed her Sasha and Acadia. Then we got down to business.

Everything is looking really good. Blood work perfect. I'm tolerating the chemo well enough. I get really tired around day 12-14. She says if it gets worse we will adjust the meds. I have a lot of energy so it's more or less OK. I can work and do everything but am totally out of energy by evening on those days.

I won't have to get scanned until January. She's stretching it out to every 6 months. God it's been 12 years now. My diagnosis was given on August 25, 2008. Statistically I should have been dead years ago. 

When I hung up with The Vix, I said how grateful I am to her. And that I loved her. That just kind of popped out of my mouth. But I really do. She has run the long run with me - a few bumps along the way - but I am truly grateful to her.