Smooth as a Baby's Bottom

Hey Guys,

I haven't posted for a couple of days because I've been feeling kind of crappy - I finished my third round of steroids on Sunday, and the side effects from two weeks of them always kind of start hitting me a couple of days after I'm done taking them. I was a little bit concerned on Monday night - I went out with William and met up with a few people I haven't seen in YEARS, and it was a later night than I've had in awhile (I got home at 1:30 - sad, I know, that now I consider that a late night!). When I got home, I was having all of this weird itching and soreness all around my braline on my back and my shoulders... it was kind of red, but I hoped it would go away when I woke up in the morning. No luck. The next morning it was all rashy and PAINFUL! It looked a little blistery in some places, and my mom and I were worried that I might be having a recurrence of the chicken pox (fantastic) or maybe some shingles (also fantastic) - best case we were figuring it was probably the beginning of some really attractive steroid-induced bacne (goodbye, sundresses...). I was also having all sorts of other weird pains that I hadn't had yet - my veins were sore (which is a really bizarre feeling...) and I was getting shin splints (confusing since I definitely haven't been doing any running lately) so I decided to keep close to home and lay low most of the day. I was getting so frustrated yesterday because I haven't had chemo for a week, but it seems like everything saves itself up and then once the nausea goes away, I get hit with the pains. It could be worse, though...

Fortunately, it was a BEAUTIFUL day outside so I spent most of the day on the screened in porch or laying in the hammock - I took a wonderful nap out under the trees... Also fortunately, when I woke up this morning, my back was looking SO much better and was a lot less sore. I was feeling a lot better in general today - a little bit of a headache, but most of the aching has gone away (with the exception of the mysterious shin splints... maybe I've been running in my sleep)

My mom has been cooking some really great meals the past few nights, which I'm so thankful for because I am hungry CONSTANTLY. Like... you guys have no idea. I've been like a bottomless pit. Last night she made this delicious baked chicken and pasta with pesto and tomatoes, and I ate basically half a chicken and an entire plateful of pasta without blinking an eye. Tonight my dad grilled burgers and my mom made tomato & mozz salad, and corn - healthy food so at least I'm gorging myself with something nutritious instead of the Kraft Spongebob Mac & Cheese I was craving during my first round. I shudder to think of how I'd be feeling if that was still all I wanted to eat...

I have a couple other pieces of news to share with you all. First of all, even though it LOOKED bald, I really haven't lost all of my hair - there was a fine layer of dark baby fuzz that never fell out. It was really soft and made me feel like a baby bird, but it also was STILL GROWING (!!!) so it was getting longer and longer and longer... tonight I finally caved and let my mom take a razor to it. You would not believe how soft my head is now. I feel like I'm wearing a bald cap or something because it's so smooth. Secondly, for those of you who haven't heard, I'll be up in Berea on Sept. 1 (Tuesday) for a few days visiting BW and Oberlin kids... I'll be posting a FB event for a dinner in Berea one night, and most likely be doing something similar for Oberlin another night (Marina & I were talking today about an Italy party?) so I want to see all of you at some point! Third (and last) is something that may sound bad, but really it's not. My treatments are getting delayed by a week because of Labor Day (kind of lame, but it ends up being a good thing!) Since I'm getting treated in the Day Hospital, the clinic is closed on Labor Day, so Dr. Adams suggested that we just push everything back a week since it won't really affect my school schedule or anything important. I was a little concerned about this from a treatment standpoint, but she says that a week isn't going to make any difference, especially at this point in my treatment. Because I have this extra week now, my mom and I are going to take the Megabus (!!!) to Chicago (!!!) for a few days! I haven't been to Chicago since a class trip in high school, so I'm super excited. Plus, I think it'll be really fun to take the Megabus - the trip is only 5 hours, and I've heard the busses are pretty nice. I'll arm myself with a couple of DVDs and some snacks, and I'm pretty sure we'll be golden.

I'm going to head out now and watch some more of Top Chef, but I'll be back tomorrow for a new installation of the Book Club.

Lots of Love,

Lauren