Back to Human

So eighteen hours after rising from the grave getting off the couch -- which is to say, when I woke up this morning -- I was back to feeling human. I'll let those of you reading decide if it was the eighteen hours or the getting off the couch that made the difference (no doubt everyone will have an opinion), I'm just glad to have survived and moved past the most recent chemo weekend ("chemo Saturday" just isn't cutting it anymore).

Happily, while this Saturday was a rainy disaster in Seattle (and so terrible convertible weather), today was actually a lovely day. Thus, Sib2 and I decided to take the Roadster north to Bellingham to visit Sib1. 

Important life lesson: It's a good idea to call a relative to make sure they'll be home before making the three hour drive to visit them.* Which is not to say that Sib2 and I didn't call ahead. We just waited until we were five minutes from Sib1's house to make the attempt -- and then promptly threw a U-turn so we could drive the thirty miles south to Mt. Vernon, where Sib1 was shopping. 

But to return to the subject at hand, as with Cycle 2, by the end of the day Monday the worst of the post-infusion chemo effects are gone, with the exception of the massively negative reaction to iced beverages, and, the highlight of Cycle 3, the neuropathy in my fingers. Sad to say, but I'll be digging out the winter wear box** before going to bed tonight to find a pair of gloves I can start wearing when I need to drive when it's cloudy or need to pull something from the refrigerator, both of which were sources of significant pain this morning when I attempted them gloveless. 

With luck, the Cycle 2 pattern will continue and by Wednesday I'll be back to enjoying ice in my beverages and perhaps even be able to hold a cold glass without my fingertips feeling like I'm removing them with a blowtorch. 

One can dream. 


* Unless, of course, the primary goal is just to drive around in the sunshine and visiting the relative is a convenient excuse for doing so. 

** Not being much of winter sports enthusiast, my winter wear box is, in fact, a shoe box containing three pairs of gloves, two scarves, and a couple of watch caps. It'll take me about thirty seconds to find the right gloves. The bigger challenge is wrapping my brain around the fact that I need to be wearing gloves in September.