Kissing chemo goodbye

It's been a big month. I finished my 2nd quarter of grad school (and survived my first three weeks of student teaching!) and made it through the main part of my chemo (except for taking xomada every three months for the next three years).

My last chemo wasn't exactly bittersweet. We brought the camera to com- memorate it, not sure why we were doing it. The honestly very nice nurses at the chemo infusion center wanted to sing to us at our (I say 'our' because Brie came with me to every single chemo session) last session, but we were horrified at the idea of celebrating chemo. I guess it's hard to figure out how to deal with the end of something bad.

In their technical terms, this picture shows me getting ready to have my chest port accessed. The port was a completely cool thing that I'm glad to be done with.

The last month of chemo was a race to see whether I would get done before my anemia got bad enough that I would need another transfusion -- but I won, barely, and they're giving me three weeks off before I have to start radiation, so that my red blood cell count can start to climb again.

So, now I'm looking at 7-8 weeks of radiation, 5 days a week. Step one, give me three tiny (yet painful) permanent tattoos on my affected breast. Step two, give me the largest bottle of pure aloe vera you've seen, and tell me to apply 5-6 times a DAY for the next two months. Step 3, they tell me I'd probably be better off without a bra for the next two months as the skin begins to be affected by the radiation. Ahem. I'll soon be back to teaching 8th graders for a month, and I'm just not the right shape to go braless. We're still negotiating this point. Step 4, they say I'll gradually get tireder and have less energy.

And of course, school starts again next Monday.

So, now that I have hair again, people think I'm all better. I just wish I was.