Chemo Treatment #13: Work Craziness, Surgery Scheduling, Bad Hair, Fingernails Return, Planning Shea & Eric’s Wedding Reception, Prostitution Cha Cha Cha, and A Dumb Yellow

Chemo:         Taxol

 

Treatment:    #9 of 12 of Taxol

 

Companions:  Jackie Schultz

 

Time:            3:40 p.m.

 

And we watched sunset at Alki Beach. . . .  At least that’s how I ended my day before hitting the computer to draft this blog post.  Seriously, so much happened today, justifying the long ass title (which Jackie demanded for this blog post).

 

My appointment was late this afternoon, so I was able to spend most of the day at work before heading to chemo.  I know, I know — psycho Cat is back at her crazy schedule.  But I’m trying to financially sustain and bill as much as possible while I’m able.  I’m a bit scared of how long I’ll be off of work recovering from surgery and how radiation will affect my energy after surgery.

 

Now for good news — I’m now officially down to three more chemo treatments!  Whoo hoo!  I’m so close to the end of chemo that Dr. Pinder has alerted the Cancer Care Coordinator, Rita Kelly, to schedule my surgery.  I’m hoping that my surgery will be scheduled during the first week of September right after Labor Day.  My recovery time should be two weeks at the quickest, so I’ll be out of commission for a while.  But that’s just more time for me to devote to my blog, right? 

 

I had a few conversations with some doctors last week (including the Senior Genetic Counselor at Myriad) about my stupid inconclusive genetic test results to get more information about what surgery to have.  After debriefing with Dad and my therapist with all the options and conflicting information I received this week, I think I’m leaning toward a lumpectomy.  However, I’ll save that drama for the next blog post.

 

Jackie joined me for today’s chemo treatment, and we watched Shear Genius, the reality program on Bravo about hair stylists.  Not my favorite of the wonderful reality programming Bravo offers.  The episode we watched was all about up-dos.  Talk about drama.  Lemme go on the record to say that Jackie has committed to wearing an up-do with lots of curls at my wedding if and when I get married.  I just have to sedate her before her hair is done and have her escort wheel her down the aisle before she wakes up.  Heh heh.

 

My white blood cell count was down today, but Dr. Pinder confirmed that my fingernails are actually looking pretty good — apparently the A/C was harder on my nails than the Taxol has been.  Felicity mentioned last weekend that she thought my nails were looking better than the photos I posted not too long ago, and she was right!  Keep your fingernails crossed for me — I would love it if I keep mine!

 

After chemo, Jackie and I joined Shea and Eric to check out the venue for their upcoming wedding reception.  Very cool space along Alki Beach in West Seattle.  I believe Jackie, Shea, and Eric have decided on the layout for the event.  We also made strides on deciding on the menu.  It’s going to be a fun reception!

 

We all went to Bamboo Grill after checking out the reception space and sat outside to have our dinner and do some people watching.  With the water, the clear skies, and the sun setting in front of us, and with Bob Marley playing in the background, it actually felt a lot like home (Hawaii).  What made it feel even more like home were all the scantily clad hoochie mamas who kept going in and out of Bamboo Grill to have cigarettes.  As one particular ho-bag exited the restaurant in a micromini dress, super bleached blond hair, and tons of makeup on, Jackie whispered to me “Prostitution, cha cha cha.”  I just about died laughing.  For those of you who don’t know this reference – it’s from Beavis and Butthead.  Yep, Beavis and Butthead.  I proceeded to laugh like Butthead every time a ho-bag came to or left the restaurant.  Explaining the reference to Shea and Eric was just as funny.  Dang.  Perhaps the chemo hit me pretty hard today.

 

Actually, now I’m sure the chemo hit me pretty hard when I think about how catty I got (pun intended) at the end of the day right before the sun set.  We watched a short, skinny Asian dude set his alarm in his overpriced sports car which was parked on Alki right in front of where he and his similarly-yellow girlfriend were eating outside at Bamboo Grill.  Who needs to turn on a car alarm when your car is parked right in front of you?  WTF?  The internal sensor of the dude’s sports car was set off every time a large car drove by, which was often, given where we were at and how nice the weather was today.  And this dude proceeded to reset his alarm each time it went off.  Man, just dumb.

 

All in all, it was a very full day and very fun.  I feel like the good Seattle summer weather gives me more energy than I usually have!