chemo day one: an assortment of blurry glimpses through deborah’s window first, the 7 a.m. pre-infusion consult: all that info coming at us, a deluge of side effect after possible side effect, scary, exhausting. hardly any sleep the night before. scribbling notes, tiny guideposts to keep val safe. safer. starting Continue Reading
June 2008
First day of chemo: all went well
Hi all, Val’s first day of chemo was long but went very well. No exciting allergic reactions; not much discomfort except some aching in her arm during the infusion of one drug; good spirits; visits from friends; attentive medical staff. (Also, as an extra bonus, it turns out there’s a Continue Reading
this is just to say
This is just to say: Today was a good day. Today there was hiking, and waterfalls, and dogs running joyfully up and down the trail, and wild irises. We switchbacked and scrambled and climbed with a posse of friends and dogs up to Angel’s Rest, a rocky spine overlooking the Continue Reading
Secrets
Excellent lovely people, i am, or would like to call myself a documentarian. a noticer of things interesting, an asker of questions. I realize that many of you have found yourselves the subject of my scrutiny in the past and i’m looking forward to hearing all your secrets in the Continue Reading
puppies are helpful
This is the first meeting between Tuley (who is now one and a half) and Molly, our friends’ new puppy. Tuley frolics with puppy Molly
Bike-a-thon!
Good heavens. Some people just can’t sit still for 5 seconds. Give them a day off from graduate school and the next thing you know they’ve organized a ginormous bike-a-thon in your honor. You know what I mean? My fantastic sister has decided that it’s making her crazy over there Continue Reading
avoiding the ironic
Val took a friend the airport Wednesday. “Drive safely,” I told her, waving from the porch. “Don’t do anything ironic.”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
This will be a quick and informational post, with details and impressions to follow: We met the medical oncologist today, Dr. L, and I’m happy to report she struck us as sharp, personable and committed. She was patient with our questions and, like us, interested in pursuing aggressive treatment. (She Continue Reading
fear, hope and roasted beet soup
One thing about this is the fear. For me so far it’s been a fear of many flavors, but it never ever quite goes away. It sucks at the shoreline of my heart, rearranging my guts, cresting up menacingly and sinking back to build the surge all over again. My Continue Reading
small mercies
Salut, mes amis. Guess what? I have some news that is not horrible! Normally I like to make a proper anecdote, with suspense and story arc, but I won’t make you live through the whole day with us. I’ll give it to you straight up: Val’s PET scan, in the Continue Reading