Last night my husband and I attended a black tie Gala for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. We were there as guests of my husband’s place of business so we didn’t have any personal ties other than the fact that I went to the symphony with my grandparents as a child and have very fond memories…
Tag: #chemo
Rebound
Slowly but surely, progress is being made. I still have bad days where I have physical limitations such as exhaustion, headaches, hot flashes and lack of sleep. I am still bald as a bat (are bats really bald?), and dripping fluid from my eyes and nose (cute!), and I’m either still swollen or chubby (let’s…
Lymphedon’t
I had my long awaited appointment with the lymph specialist doctor this week. Shocker alert! I have been officially diagnosed with mild lymphedema. The great (read: horrendous) news is that this is a life-long condition. I will be worried about my arm swelling for the REST OF MY LIFE. Thank you breast cancer. You are the…
Sloth University
It’s been over two weeks since my final chemo. I was honestly expecting to be in a much better place than I am by this point. Not so much. Yes, I do feel somehow better as a whole, but the individual parts seem to be continuing to break down. For example- my eyes and nose…
Second Opinion/I Am Never Not Hot
Probably seems a bit odd to seek a second opinion after I have already had 3 surgeries, 4 drains, 4 rounds of chemotherapy and 2 infections. I never felt I needed a true second opinion from a hospital system outside of the one I have been working with. My doctors would always ‘present my case’…
Hurricane Cancer
I am a bit of a scaredy cat. I get spooked really easily (i.e. Phil Collins’ Land of Confusion, which could be blamed for ruining my entire childhood). Mix this with anxiety and you have a cute little cocktail of I cannot even think about that or I’ll never sleep again. Here is a short list…
Live Report from The Chemo Bunker
See what’s happening in this photo? I am simultaneously freezing and wearing a blanket around my face, but also boiling and have an ice pack on my head. Oh chemo, you’re so silly. Let’s discuss ‘Cancer Normal.’ ‘Normal’ is hard to define under any circumstances. When you are talking about statistics, normal becomes a pretty…
Crowning Achievement
This post will be a visual odyssey through my last day of chemo. I’m too verklempt to write much about it today. ⬆️Straight clowny⬆️ ⬆️Feeling chatty⬆️ After a fun lunch high on the the pre-meds with my A-Team of my mom, sister and huz, I came home and have been sleeping ever since. My body…
Chemo Eve (Ho Ho Horrible)
***Pills pictured above clockwise from top left: Prozac (you try navigating cancer without an anti-depressant/anxiety, judgy-pants), Astragalus, My Community Host Defense Mushroom supplement, 2 steroids, Turkey Tail Root Mushroom supplement, Claritin. Not Pictured: Vitamin D, which fell off my head. (And PS- that is a shadow on my noggin not a scary bruise.) So tomorrow…
When You Are Bald, Everything Is a Hat
I am sort of a trendsetter. I am quite sure that after posting this image of me wearing half of a cardboard fruit snacks box as a hat, a trend will be born. I am naturally bald at this point, but have had this bizarre ostrich hair on the top of my head that somehow…
Downward Spiral
2/3 of my kids have been pretty sick with strep etc. for the last 10 days. As a parent, I am in danger of catching their germs. As a cancer patient in chemotherapy, I am fucked. Every day that I have woken up feeling normal I have been amazed. It’s been 10 days. How could…
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