Infusion day.  We were scheduled for 10:30, and they actually took me in for the preliminaries very soon thereafter.  That (including waiting) took about fifteen minutes.  Then I waited another twenty minutes or so for the oncologist.  He asked how I was feeling and I said pretty good; I reported that I’d gained a pound (on the hospital scale), and that I was definitely eating better and had more energy.  He said he could tell by looking at me that I was more energetic– my manner, my voice, etc.  He examined me and said that my belly was much softer than last time.  He didn’t think he could feel the lesion on my liver.  His nurse thought she probably could– and judging from how it felt when she was palpating me she was in the right area– but still, that’s pretty good.

I was wearing a pair of very silly earrings (in the form of my totem), and Dr. S got a big kick out of them.  (If he can put on a special tie for me, I can entertain him with my totem accessories.  It’s only fair.)

He said that some patients on Gemzar feel better whether or not the drug shrinks the tumor.  I said that I would, of course, prefer for the tumor to shrink, but I’m delighted to feel better in any case.  We told him about our Florida plans, and he approved– not at all to our surprise.

We finished with him just before 11:30; at about noon they took us into the infusion room, but the nurses were occupied with a patient who had to be in the isolation area, so they didn’t start infusing me until 12:40.  Nonetheless, it went very smoothly, and I was out by 1:20 and we were home before 2:00.  It seems long for what they describe as a half-hour infusion, but it really wasn’t bad– especially with music on my new iPhone.  By the way, I realized I have a pair of reasonably comfortable ear buds, so I used them today, and they stayed put as well with the iPhone as they have with any of the other gizmos I’ve tried them with, so I’m set with that, at least for now.

I got home to find mail from a friend from the net (and Panix) who said that his mother is undergoing chemo for pancreatic cancer.  It was good to hear from him, and I wish his mother– and him– all the best.

Today was a long day.  My sweetie (who picks up groceries early every morning) went out especially early today because he had a 10am appointment at Gilda’s Club, an organization that provides various kinds of support, including groups, to cancer patients and their families.  So I was alone from early on.

I stressed our new shredder.  It’s supposed to do fourteen sheets; I gave it a packet of eleven high-quality pages, and it swallowed them easily.  I ended up shredding a bunch of stuff in our (very large, and still not complete) pile of To-Be-Shredded documents on the strength of it.  I also managed to sync my addresses and my calendar to my iPhone while I was waiting to grab some data out of the logs.

I also managed to get a haircut and still get to the office only about half an hour later than usual.  I caught up on a few chores in the office before I left.  When I got home, I discovered that our hand mixer and immersion blender had been delivered– just in time for me to bake cookies this weekend.

I’m tired enough that I managed to mess up my poor father, thinking the computer he’d received had the wrong OS on it.  (It hasn’t.)  I managed to figure that out before it had escalated too far, and we are all relieved.

Tomorrow I start cycle II.  I can’t say that I’m exactly looking forward to it, but I hope it’s as helpful as cycle I has been.

Today was a lovely day.  Well, it was chilly and cooler than it has been, but I spent a lovely time with a dear friend, had a vegetarian lunch (first time I’ve dared vegetarian food since my eating habits changed, and I really enjoyed it) at an Indian restaurant right down the block.

I did some work, set up our new cross-cut shredder (which replaces the older, slower one we’ve been using), and did a bit of organizing and handled a few of the administrative details that have been on my to-do list.

All in all, a good day.

Another busy day.  I confess that I spent a bit of it configuring my iPhone and grabbing some of the music from my sweetie’s computer.

I’m still having trouble getting back to sleep when I wake up at about three o’clock.  I’m not sure what to do about that.  On days that I don’t go into the office I grab catnaps during the day, and that helps. I’ll grab a quick nap in the morning tomorrow, before my company comes.

I went into the office for a few hours.  I wanted to organize some work stuff that I’ve been putting off, and when I went back to it I discovered that I’d actually made a very reasonable start at the organization already.  That was good to see.  And it was made all the more pleasant by the Bach that accompanied it.  (I must do something about those earbuds, though.  They aren’t working well for me at all.)

I didn’t sleep all that well, but I still felt energetic (sleepy, but energetic) when I got up.  It was laundry day.  My sweetie does the laundry, but I do the sorting and folding, and it didn’t knock me out at all.  I decided to do a workout.  I spent 16 minutes on the elliptical and was surprised at how easy it was.  (It was that short because, under the instructions of the surgeon who put in the port, I hadn’t been doing any strength workouts at all, and I wanted to save a little time for that.)  I did some pushups and some crunches, fewer than usual, but nonetheless, and a number of other upper-body exercises, and I felt terrific.  The scale also held steady from yesterday, so I’m pretty pleased.

I apportioned and froze the leftover meatloaf from last night, and in the process I rationalized our freezer, discarding a package labeled “stuffing – 12/19″.  If we haven’t got to it in eleven and a half months, we aren’t going to use it.

I had an after-workout snack, and then I had lunch, and then I had a snack after lunch.  I feel like I’ve been eating all day.  And when my sweetie came home from the beach he brought up the mail, which included still more chocolate from my California chocolatebuddy.  Yum!

Oh, yes:  I spent most of the day at the computer, telecommuting.  That almost got lost in all the food.

A busy and productive day.  I did a number of chores, took a walk in the unusual November balminess, and made a meatloaf.  (We haven’t had meatloaf in a very long time, probably not since my sweetie started doing most of the cooking.  He got me a mixture of meats and I invented a recipe.  I can smell it now– Yum!)

I stopped down at the fitness room for just long enough to weigh myself, and, not surprisingly, the (unreliable) scale there says I’ve gained about two pounds since my lowest.  As I said, I know not to trust that scale, but I’ve been eating much better these days, and, while the numbers might not be accurate, I suspect there’s some reality involved.  It’s most unusual for me to celebrate gaining weight; I’m very, very happy.

Home again, home again, jiggety-jig.  We all left pretty early, because my sister and brother-in-law were going to meet my niece and her fiance to look at potential wedding venues.  My brother-in-law commented on how much better I was doing now than when we met them at the restaurant after the blizzard, Halloween weekend.  We just made the train, having to run– carrying bags.  Not a problem, but it would have been a couple of weeks ago.  We were home by early afternoon.

I had plenty of energy for the subway stairs and the hill, even though I really needed food.  I unpacked and got a bunch of things ready while my sweetie did some shopping.

I’m all mellow from the family time.

More family today. The weather has been lovely, so we were happy to visit the new office my sister and brother-in-law have opened. It’s an enormous improvement in every way over their previous office, and we were happy to congratulate them on it.

Aside from that excursion, we spent a quiet day. My nephew is working, so he left early; my niece and her fiance came over late in the afternoon. They are full of ideas for their wedding, some quite plausible and others suggested as comic relief.

There’s a fire in the fireplace, the leftovers are being heated up, and it’s another quiet (thanksgiving) day.

My sister had offered to pick us up and drive us to her house, but I’ve been feeling well enough that I said we’d take the train, which we did, without any trouble at all. We arrive on time, she met us at the station and drove us to the house. There were pies (two pumpkin, one apple, one chocolate pecan) sitting on the table. The turkey was on the counter ready to be cooked. My brother-in-law was at the stove, working on the potatoes (or maybe the sweet potatoes: I’ve lost track).

We had brought smoked salmon (for days following) and some protein drinks for me, and I found room for them in the fridge. The house is strangely empty this year, as all three (grown!) kids are officially living elsewhere. The two oldest made it home for the feast; the youngest just moved to Arizona a couple of weeks ago, so she’s not around.

We ate. I had plenty of cheese and crackers and a couple of meatballs– and that was lunch. Dinner, of course, was the traditional turkey with dressing, the aforementioned potatoes and sweet potatoes, cranberry relish and probably other stuff that I don’t recall. I even had room later for a small piece of pumpkin pie with a little vanilla ice cream. I haven’t eaten this much in a couple of months, and it was wonderful.

Even better, of course, was being with my family. My parents called just before dinner, and spoke to everyone. Much love was exchanged. I was, and remain, profoundly grateful– for the love of my family and friends, for my current health, and for all of the happiness I’ve enjoyed over the years, especially with my wonderful sweetie and husband of over thirty-eight years. Thank you all.

Yes, it was another quiet day.  I did assorted chores (clearing out more stuff at work, paying a couple of bills, and so on).  I spent twenty minutes on the treadmill, and the (very unreliable) scale at the gym says I’m up about a quarter of a pound.  Not down (strange though it feels to me) is cause for celebration.

I’m still eating fairly well.  The exercise doesn’t hurt, of course.  I had a good lunch, and a couple of small afternoon snacks, and I’ll be hungry for dinner by the time we eat.

Tomorrow we’ll go to visit family.  My brother-in-law has moved into a new office that I haven’t seen yet, and I’m going to insist that he show it off.  (The persuasion probably won’t be all that difficult a project.)  I am very much looking forward to spending a few days with people I love dearly.  If I don’t make updates, it’s because I’m not at my desk, so please don’t imagine the worst.