Cool Things To Do In NYC Tomorrow

1. Visit the Statue of Liberty.
2. Shop on Madison Avenue.
3. Eat dumplings in Chinatown.
4. Come to Sloan Kettering for a chemo party.

We'll be watching How I Met Your Mother (thanks Amanda!) and doing other things that are more awesome than whatever else you were doing. And now that I mention it, maybe there will be some dumplings as well. Seriously - someone coming to chemo tomorrow let me know whether we can Seamlessweb some dumplings to the Breast Center.  Blanca, I'm looking at you.  Seriously...I am at your apartment right now looking at you.  Maybe we can sneak them inside in plastic bags so no one smells them. Then we can all hide in this closet from the waiting room to eat them.

Three more rounds of chemo to go - come for the adventure, stay for the dumplings.

The Secret Lives of Hip, Urban, Cancerous Twenty-Somethings

In case you were curious (you were):

I have turned down multiple invitations to go out and do cool things in recent days to instead stay home and play one of my favorite games - "How Much Fur Can I Brush Out From My Cat."

All the jokes about me eventually becoming a cat lady suddenly feel much more real.

Onto the Next Thing: Chemo #5

On Friday I had my first Taxol treatment, and I'm happy to report that I didn't have any weird allergic side effects or any of the scary stuff that people tend to worry about with Taxol. A big plus - I can still feel my fingers and toes (for now)! A bigger plus - I'm more than halfway done with chemo!

Courtesy of CaitFord (who gets a huge thank you for coming all the way up from DC), I also go to see "How to Catch a Thief" during the cheems this week. Since a Taxol infusion is about three and a half hours long, I think I'm going to take the opportunity to watch more movies, since I typically can't ever sit still long enough to finish one.

On the slight downside, I've anecdotally heard that it's common to feel very depressed on Taxol. While I normally wouldn't worry about it since I tend more towards the 'irrationally filled with joy all the time' end of the spectrum, I got hit with the foulest of foul moods about 24 hours post Taxol.

I think it's only fair to also tell you guys the things that aren't fun - I know that other Cancer People read this and that future Cancer People might read it one day, and it's important to know that despite appearances cancer is not all fun, games, and getting presents for looking so hot while bald. And practically speaking, if I bite your head off at some point in the next few weeks, we can all look back at this timestamped blog entry and say that you had ample warning to tread carefully.

So in the interest of honesty, what follows is a list of things that have not individually made a lasting, measurable dent in my funk since Saturday evening:

- dark chocolate with French lavender and salted pistachio
- milk chocolate with cinnamon and almonds
- Saks Fifth Avenue
- Forever 21
- '90s movies
- a bagel
- bacon
- honey mustard
- sushi
- the cat
- a shower
- a cry (or three)
- Apples to Apples

Luckily, all these home cures taken in combination with wonderful friends do seem to have some effect, but it should still be noted that while I hope this funk lifts soon, for a little while I might be a bit off-kilter.

You're Welcome.

Important Information with a side of kittens.

Cancer Benefits

One of the benefits of cancer that they don't tell you about is that you can basically bring anything you want past airport security if you tell them that you need it to appease your raging cells.

This weekend, I got to bring onto the plane all the liquids I wanted, including a liter-size bottle of water, about 47 snacks, and about a bajillion pills that I think are technically controlled substances. I also got my own row on every flight I was on. You know...in case I got really chemo-tired and needed a nap.

I also got the opportunity to meet Katie this weekend, who is another Cancer Benefit. As two of the very, very few twenty four year olds dealing with this stupid malignant garbage, we pretty much had to talk to each other (thanks, cancer websites!), especially after I found out that she lives in Ann Arbor. Our friendship was sealed after a few emails, but our soulmateship (yes, soulmateship) was cemented when she picked me up from the airport and we discovered that we were already wearing the exact same nail polish color. It's hard to decide whether I was more excited to hang out with Nathan or Katie this weekend, but the two of them together in the same town makes Ann Arbor tops on the list of hip towns in the Midwest. (Lists can have one item in them, right?)

Canceriffic: Chemo #4

I had my LAST AC CHEMO today. Thanks for coming Mom, Marilyn, and Marcella! It was, as per usual, totally uneventful. They did a full bloodwork on me to see how my kidneys and whatnot are holding up, and everything is like that of a healthy person, except that this is the second time my blood sugar has been 'low normal.' (The first time was before I even started chemo.) I got it in a voicemail, so does anyone want to tell me what that actually means? They told me not to worry about it unless I don't feel well, in which case give them a call. Beyond that, red and white blood cells are holding steady - good job, self.

After chemo I went out for secondlunch (broccoli and cheese quiche with salad), having eaten firstlunch (roast beef and gruyere sandwich) during chemo, obviously. Then I went to the farmer's market with my mom, and then came home and made fresh corn and black bean salad for dinner with my farmer's market finds.

I'm leaving for Ann Arbor after my Neulasta shot tomorrow, and I'm REALLY looking forward to getting through airport security with pieces of metal in my chest!

When I get back, on to Taxol!

Quick Update

As a Cancer Person, my life is extremely busy, productive, and awesome, so I only have time for this oh-so-brief update before I whisk myself off to yet another awesome event (seriously though, I'm on my way out the office door to go get pho for dinner).

No crazy side effects to report yet, still holding up ok. I had one of those annoying dull headaches all last week, but it finally seems to have subsided. Interestingly, I also had the Daisy Sour Cream jingle stuck in my head all last week, and as that vanished, so too did my headache. Listen to it - it's weirdly addictive.




Chemo this week is on THURSDAY instead of Friday, so if you find yourself free on Thursdays and have a thing for hospitals, sandwiches, or board games, come to chemo at 11:00!

As added incentive, it may be your last chance to see me this week, because I'm going to Ann Arbor on Friday for the weekend. Officially, I'm visiting Nathan, but between you and me, internet, I'm going because there's an amazing sandwich shop in Ann Arbor, which has the biggest sandwich menu I've ever seen. I'm taking suggestions for what to order this time.