7 down + kim + beth

7 is done.

bloodwork was good today (thank you liver and kidneys) and so we were a go for the infusion.

we talked about the side effects and how some remain the same (absolutely dry mouth) and some continue to increase (fatigue, joint aches). the joint aches have definitely kicked up a notch or two in the last couple of weeks. it takes me a bit longer to get moving after i have been sitting and sleeping has started to be an issue. i wake up multiple times during the night because my hips/shoulders/wrists hurt. so i am starting to have more interrupted sleep which doesn't help the fatigue. a vicious little circle these drugs cause.

this morning was the first time that i couldn't do something that i wanted to do. i couldn't lift a tea mug to put it in the microwave. i filled the cup up with water, walked over to heat it up like i do every morning, and i could not lift the cup up into the microwave because my wrist was hurting so bad. that was a tough moment, i am not going to pretend it wasn't. but luckily my left wrist wasn't as bad and so i got the mission accomplished. so we will see what this night and tomorrow morning brings. my oncologist said that if the pain gets too bad (as it can for patients on this drug) then we can go back on prednisone for a bit to help alleviate the issue. i can tell you right now that i will do everything i can to not go back on the steroids. but as i am always reminded, all of these things aren't up to me and the cancer fates like to sometimes have their say. but, i will keep doing everything i can to avoid that, and the cards will play out as they will just like they always do.

in better news, i got my biopsy results today and the lump on my leg (which is still there) is benign. whew. so thankful for that. my derm will explain to me on friday more about the mass and what it is, have i said how much i love my derm? that man is the best. i pretty much feel like everyone should drive to bellevue to have him be their derm. he is just that good.

i am so damn thankful for my doctors, i do not know (and don't even want to think about) what i would do without them. they can never, ever retire. that i know for sure.

thanks for all of the good thoughts and love for kim today, we really appreciated it. her appointment with her surgeon went well and she is scheduled for an MRI on friday. the results of that will help to inform exactly what may need to happen during surgery. she will meet with the surgeon next week to talk more about surgery and the timing. so keep sending the mojo and prayers.

i also need to ask for your mojo and prayers for my friend beth, this week is her 6 month check up for scans. she has scans on wednesday and she gets the results on friday. now i know, and you know, that these results are going to be totally clean. but just because i like extra insurance (kind of like the kind i pay for every time i book a trip these days), i am calling all of you reinforcements in for your mojo goodness so we can make sure that cancer knows to get the hell out of seattle and not mess with beth.

thank you as always for all of the support for me, and for these fighters that i love. the ones like beth that you have followed for years now, and the ones whose stories you are just beginning to know like kim.

have a good tuesday peeps, make it a really good one. xo