The title says it all, but I will expand a bit.
It's been so long since I've written here -- my apologies. I just got a bit tired of it, and there didn't seem to be much to say. And I did state from the beginning that I would write when I want, what I want. Now in the midst of my insomnia seems as good a time as any to dash off a post.
The Taxol treatment is going swimmingly. So far, most of my big right toe is numb as is part of that foot close to that toe. I have experienced no other numbness in my extremities, which I am very happy about and grateful for. [An aside: yes, it is perfectly grammatical and acceptable to end a sentence with a preposition; please don't think I don't know what I'm doing :). ] My hair is growing back, as you can see here. So far it is dark and straight. I'm not sure whether it's darker than it was before since I had lightened it for so many years, I really don't know what my natural color was. It's hard to tell just from roots. Other side effects are really very mild and easy to deal with. One is this unfortunate insomnia one day a week: Friday nights going into Saturday mornings, which is the time now. Evidently Taxol has a high incidence of allergic reactions, so they give me both oral and IV steroids as a prophylactic. The insomnia is thus a side effect of the steroids meant to prevent allergic reactions. As has been the case from the beginning of my treatment, I have side effects from the chemo, and side effects from the drugs to counteract those side effects. And yet more drugs to treat those secondary side effects. It's very difficult at times to keep it all straight. But anyway, my usual M.O. on Friday nights and Saturday mornings is to fall asleep around 4 or 5 a.m. and wake up by 9-ish. I then will commonly have a very full, energetic day, followed by sheer exhaustion and 9-10 hours of sleep Saturday and Sunday nights. So my whole weekend is not spoiled; I'm usually just more tired than normal on Sundays, which actually carries over into Mondays and Tuesdays. I have very little stomach upset or nausea, just some days/meals that I prefer to eat something light. I pretty much eat what I want: Indian food, Tex-Mex, Italian, lots of fruits and veggies and salads, etc.
One project that I was involved in last weekend was kind of interesting. The woman who took the pictures of Kyle, Lightning, and me contacted me a few weeks ago to ask whether I would be interested in working with her and a friend of hers on a breast cancer education project. She gave me some details, comparing it to "What to Expect When You're Expecting" but for women who have had a diagnosis of breast cancer: practical advice from women who have been there, things doctors and nurses forget or don't know about. I agreed to be a part of it, and last week went to have my picture made and be interviewed by Ann's friend, Angie. The theme is going to be "I Fight Like a Girl," and Ann Beck (the photographer) took pictures of all the participants with jeans, a white T-shirt, and pink boxing gloves. I think their plan is to start as a website and see if it grows into a book, although it's still very amorphous. I told them I would be happy to do their copyediting.
I don't remember and am too lazy to go back and look to see if I mentioned that Eric, Rafia, and I had a presentation accepted at the EDUCAUSE SW Regional Conference in Austin. This is an organization that is all about IT and technology in higher ed. So we went, and our presentation went well, I think (still waiting for feedback). Unlike 99.99% of presenters at any conference in the known world these days, we did not do our presentation in PowerPoint but chose to use a new product called Prezi. I had fun making it and learning the software; I highly recommend it. Anyway, the point of this paragraph that I am finally getting to is that while we were in Austin, I went by one of the tattoo places I had found online and talked with one of the artists whose work I had been impressed by on their website. I gave her an idea of what I want, and she said she'd totally be into doing the piece. I also asked her how much it would cost and was not surprised by her answer ($500-$600) but have thought about it since then and decided that we just can't afford that right now.
We must get our house sold in Michigan. If it doesn't sell soon, we are likely to lose what little we have left in our stock portfolio and have to do a short sale or default. So, we have lowered the price yet again, and it is now below what we owe. You can see the listing here if you like. If you know of anyone who is looking for a great house in a wonderful neighborhood in Rochester Hills, MI (or the northern Detroit suburbs in general), please send them the link to the listing!
I guess I should try to get to sleep now; I hope it will happen. Much love to you all. Peace, Jody.
