Well, you've reached the halfway point, more than one well-wisher observes Thursday and Friday. Nine treatments in all, right? Just four more to go. A smiling parabolic arc.
But lately it occurs to me that this chemo trip may look more like the balance sheet of a Silicon Valley start-up in the Dot.Com bust. A month ago, I joked that the treatments would leave me half-dead, and then they'd take the half that was still alive and resurrect me. What if this is only quarter-dead?
But don't get me wrong. I'm rooting for the parabola. I could use the upswing. Thursday and Friday I need two retreats, not just one, for an afternoon nap (sharing the blanket with Boris the cat, who's suddenly discovered it). Work Thursday? Out of the question. Now I'm beginning to wonder about my plan to get back to the office Sunday.
Not that there are too many physical complaints, aside from the fatigue. The sinuses sometimes still want to be streaming, but with saline spray, a vaporizer running near the bed and a last-resort decongestant, there's a limit on them.
The left hand, Wednesday's infusion hand, is still a little swollen and sore, but this time around the drug hasn't produced a rash anywhere. Maybe just a lurking hint of nausea. Two nights in a row, my 2 a.m. wake-up arrives with a little unease in my stomach, enough to prompt a walk downstairs to take a preventive Compazine.
Nevertheless, at this low, low point on the parabola, any pursuit or pleasure beyond basic personal care seems like a victory.
Assembling a Saturday column of duplicate bridge notes and scores and e-mailing it to the features editor? Imperfect, but done. There's hope for those post-surgery weeks in May and June.
More episodes of "House of Cards"? I want more than one at a sitting, but Monica resists. Season One, Episode 11, on Thursday night gives both of us bad dreams.
Unexpected delight? Chicken pho from the still-new Saigon Cafe a few blocks away at Elmwood and Utica. Monica brings some home Friday evening and it's so tasty I propose laying a pipeline directly to the restaurant.
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