The worst of the fatigue and nausea mostly subsided over the weekend. At this point, parts of my body are telling me: We know shenanigans are happening. And we know it's for a good cause, but we're gonna make sure you have little reminders that things are not normal and we not pleased about the situation. So I have a constant dry throat and mouth and a disgruntled stomach. Smells that normally would normally be pleasant or ignorable make my stomach grumpy and food doesn't quite taste the same. I realized that I posted photos of wigs, but not the current state of my natural hair. So here's a photo of the current state after a morning shower. I have a lot more energy than last week, so I'm taking some time to get some exercise, organize and purge things around the house, and dance. Where I focus my dance energy has changed. Back before the pandemic, one of my favourite ways to spend my free time was playing around with doubles tricks with a close friend. We pushed our...

So Day 3 of chemo is landing between Day 1 and Day 2. Not wiped and in bed like Day 1, but not as much energy and focus as I had the morning of Day 2. I've found that some light movement (walking, dancing slowly) seems to help with stomach discomfort. It's a tricky balance trying to stave of nausea with the anti-nausea meds, but not taking so much of the meds that I'm too tired to do anything. Note : the rest of this post is software stuff that non-nerds will likely find uninteresting... I also spent a little time nudging Ontario Health to fix one of their web sites. My hospital points me to "https://isaac.cancercare.on.ca/" to fill out info about symptoms I'm experiencing before starting a chemo infusion. That site has an expired security certificate, so my browser blocks it by default. So I used the kiosk at the hospital instead for my first chemo infusion appointment. Frustratingly, the kiosk screen is hard for me to read and I needed my partner to fill out...

 So here's how Day 1 and Day 2 of chemo went. Day 1 The chemo infusion was mostly uneventful. I had a little mild allergic reaction to doxorubicin on the skin of the forearm with the IV. The nurse gave me some Benadryl and I'll be getting Benadryl as a part of the pre-chemo meds for future infusions. Most of the pre-chemo meds for my specific chemo treatment are to prevent nausea. The upside is that I haven't experienced any nausea yet, just some minor complaints from my stomach that things are not  normal. But between the chemo meds and the pre-chemo meds I was very tired and had trouble focusing. Aside from some small servings of congee, I basically spent the rest of the day in bed. Day 2 I got up before 5am today, which isn't entirely surprising given that I'm a morning person and that I spent a lot of time in bed the day before. Today was significantly better. I took one of the anti-nausea meds this morning and had more energy and a better appetite. I even had a...

"How are you feeling?" is a question I've been asked a lot lately. I generally provide a short answer, because a longer answer feels like dumping on someone else. But I'll try to expand on it here. There are a few trivial ways to respond, but a lot underlies those responses. And all of it is true at the same time: "I'm ok" I have a lot of support from friends, family, and co-workers. The expectation is that after recovering chemo and radiation, I'll be able to go back to normal activity. And I can take time 4 months off work to do chemo without worrying about my financial stability. I have lots of things to worry about, but I also have lots of things I don't need to worry about. More broadly - Having an eye condition that makes me legally blind, sensitive to bright light, and prone to all kinds of eye problems earlier than other people means that I had to come to terms with a body that doesn't function optimally a long time ago. I've had ...

Typically you start losing hair in your second week of chemo. I don't expect losing hair to be any fun - but I figure that if it's going to happen, I might as well amuse myself with headwear and wig shopping. So my partner and I headed to a few salons that specialize in wigs, and I did some online shopping for some caps and headscarves. The general advice I got was that you get what you pay for, and human hair wigs are better than synthetic. Synthetic hair wigs are more prone to heat damage from everyday activities like using the dishwasher or stove, and friction damage rubbing up against hoods and collars on winter coats. So I focused primarily on trying on human hair wigs. Some wigs I tried on to test out the hairstyle, and some I tried for the hair colour.  We both think I'm channeling a certain aunt on my dad's side with this one: A more familiar mid-length and black: I was particularly interested in trying out wigs with some red in them. I dislike the process requi...

I've set up this basic blog to provide quick updates on how things are going during treatment and recovery - for friends, family, and co-workers. Some updates will come from me, but if there are times where posting myself is hard, I'll have a few select supporters who can post info here as well. This blog is public to simplify access for reading, but it's not indexed by Google Search. You can email the blog URL to others who might be interested, but please  do not share on social media . If I later decide that I'm ok with sharing aspects of my journey more publicly, I will initiate that myself. Thanks to everyone who has offered help. We'll reach out if we need something specific, but in the meantime - feel free to suggest a song, audiobook, or podcast in this spreadsheet