Good News!

Hey Guys,

I had my post-treatment scans this past Monday, and I'm THRILLED to report that everything is NORMAL!!!! I had a little bit of scar tissue in my lungs (probably from living in the Ohio River Valley for my entire life) and I have to stay out of bars with lots of smoke (i.e. Newport) because of the potential for lung damage from the drugs I was on, but other than that, I've been given a clean bill of health!

I'm having a little issue with an extremely extended cold - lots of sniffles and coughing that's keeping me up at night, but otherwise I've been feeling really good! My counts are basically normal (on the low side of normal, but normal still!) and I have to take Bactrim (an antibiotic to keep away a chemo-specific pneumonia) for the next six months, but other than that I'm off pills and back on my vitamins in the hope that my hair will grow back more quickly. Once the incision from my port removal heals, I can't wait to start doing Pilates again. I want to get a little back into shape before I start my classes up in the spring, because I'm planning on taking Pilates and possibly aerobics at BW.

I'm also SUPER happy to be able to be back on my normal diet. I had my favorite salad from First Watch the other day. I hadn't been able to eat it since June because it has spicy dressing, bacon, avocados, and a few other things I haven't been allowed to eat. It was just as delicious as I remembered! I've also lost about 7lbs of what I'm assuming was water weight from steroids - not that I ever really felt like I gained weight, but it just kind of went away. I haven't been trying to lose anything, but it's nice to be back where I was when I started treatments and be (mostly) rid of the bloated stomach I've been sporting since the steroids kicked in (for awhile I felt like one of those little kids with the skinny limbs and big tummies)

My hair's sort of still coming back... it's getting a lot longer and has a little bit of a reddish cast, but it's still SO thin. I'm getting a little worried, but I guess it hasn't even been six weeks since I finished treatment. If it's still this thin at New Year's, I'm going to start to get seriously worried...

Lots of Love,

Lauren

FINALLY DONE!

Hey Guys,

Sorry it's taken so long to get this up, but my final treatment really kicked my butt! I barely got off the couch at all on Tuesday or Wednesday, and was in all day Monday because we had a meeting and then for some reason things kept getting delayed.

Instead of having my appointment at 8:30 am (which is when my appointments usually were), I had my appointment at 2 pm so we could meet with all of my doctors (and Brian's doctors) to kind of figure out a plan for the future.

Originally, they put me in the TINIEST room possible - an infusion room, which is usually used when a kid is just getting a quick infusion of something (an hour or less). Check out how crowded my giant brothers and my mom were in the corner of this tiny, tiny room (keep in mind I'm sitting in a dentists' chair barely a foot away from them!)

We had to fit my dad (who was out in the hallway waiting) plus three doctors and at least one nurse in the room for the meeting, so there's no way that was going to work! Fortunately, they were able to move me within a half hour so we didn't have to suffocate in the tiny room!

Part of being treated at Children's is that they have a great Child Life department that brings games and toys and gifts to kids for special occasions. For example, on my birthday they brought me a manicure set with hand lotions and really nice cream. And for my LAST CHEMO, they brought me a giftcard to Walmart so I can get myself anything that I'd like - I can't wait to go pick something out!!

I spent most of the afternoon reading a really fantastic book called Forever (I can't remember the author, but you should definitely try and find it... SO GOOD!)

My mom and I had eaten before we got to the hospital, but expected to be in and out pretty quickly (which didn't happen) so we ended up getting pretty hungry. My mom ran down to the cafeteria and brought back all kinds of "party" goodies that we wouldn't normally eat - chocolate covered donuts (my favorite snack) and cheddar chex-mix type stuff. I had to hurry up and eat mine before I started feeling nauseous, so I didn't savor it as much as I should have, but it was delicious nonetheless!

(yes, I am wearing a Where the Wild Things Are tshirt...)

As I was finishing up, Dr. Adams and Debbie came in to congratulate me - Dr. Adams even sang and did a little dance, but I totally wasn't expecting it, so I didn't have my camera ready, otherwise there would be a wonderful video of my oncologist doing her "Happy Last Chemo" dance!

(this picture was taken just post-dancing)

Starting to feel pretty sick from the end of the drugs, and totally ready to go home...

It was so amazing to get deaccessed for the last time - I think the only thing that will feel better will to finally get my port taken out. My nurse (Katie) was super-cool and just pulled the tape off as fast as she could (I've never had a problem with the tape hurting so I always get annoyed when it takes SO LONG for them to pull it off slowly!) and she also pushed the flush really fast so that it wouldn't taste as bad as long (the flushes they use make my mouth taste like rubbing alcohol and alway push me close to the edge of vomiting)

Monday night, I basically laid on the couch and slept it off - I was feeling pretty awful and not really wanting to go anywhere or talk to anyone. Apparently people were calling to see how I was doing, but I don't remember anyone calling!

Tuesday I felt REALLY awful, but I went to my piano lesson anyway, which was a little bit of a disaster. I played OK, but since I was on so much medication for the nausea, I couldn't quite focus on anything that my teacher was saying. I'm just practicing extra hard now to make up for it for next week!

Tuesday night I also noticed that my eyebrows and eyelashes started falling out A LOT! I'm hoping that they won't all fall out, but they're falling out more and more after each shower. The good news in, my hair will (hopefully) start growing back in soon, so there won't be much of a gap for my naked eyes...

Tonight I'm on my way out to celebrate a little bit downtown with some friends, so hopefully I'll be posting some pictures of that in the next few days!

Thank you all for all of your support!!!

Lots of Love,

Lauren

Vaccinations (and rants about not wearing masks)

Hey Guys,

It's flu season again (well, I guess it's been flu season for a bit now, but it just seems like everyone's recently started to get sick) Knock on wood, I'm feeling pretty good - and I'm planning on keeping that way at least for another month so I can FINISH!

Anyway, I know a lot of people are really on the fence about vaccinations, etc. Almost every doctor will tell you that vaccinating your kids is perfectly safe (actually safer than NOT) and (I'm pretty sure - correct me if I'm wrong) kids legally have to be vaccinated before they can attend school in the US (excepting religious or "spiritual" beliefs). I know that some celebrities (I'm looking at you, Jenny McCarthy) are on this no-vaccinations kick, saying that vaccinations cause autism, etc. I get so mad every time I hear about this, because it seems like just because you (as a parent) would rather listen to a celebrity than a doctor, your kid could get REALLY sick and make other kids REALLY sick (babies too small to be vaccinated, etc...)

You might be wondering what all this has to do with me... I read this article on Slate Magazine today, and I never really thought about how unvaccinated kids could affect me directly. However, now that I'm a patient at a Children's Hospital, I'm wondering how many unvaccinated kids I come in contact with that could be spreading things to allllll the many immunocompromised patients at CHMC. It makes me so mad...

Another thing that makes me SO mad is coughing kids in hospitals NOT wearing masks. The new procedure at Outpatient where I get my bloodwork (and I'm assuming at Children's Main as well) is that if you come in even looking vaguely sick, you have to wear a mask. This is because so many kids come in with low immune systems that hospital staff doesn't want flu (or anything else) spreading and making the really sick kids even sicker. However, some parents don't seem to follow these rules... When I was coming home from my treatment Monday, I was stuck behind a kid and his mom - the mom was holding a mask and the kid was coughing all over his hands and running them up and down the walls... Another woman in front of us commented (pretty loudly) "This is a Hospital. That kid should be wearing a mask..." The mom didn't even flinch or acknowledge the comment. One of my nurses at Outpatient put it best: she told me that she has parents come in all the time who don't want to force their kid to wear a mask (because, let's face it, the masks suck) so she tells them "Your kid might get the flu and have a tummy ache and miss a couple days of school, but someone else's kid might be on chemo, and that kid on chemo can get the flu and die. Put the mask on your kid, because we don't want any dead ones." It sounds a little harsh, but sometimes that's the only way to get through to people. A lot of times parents just don't realize that not every kid they come in contact with is as healthy as their own.

For everyone's sake this flu season, GET THE H1N1 vaccine! Get the Seasonal vaccine! Help us sick kids have a better chance of NOT getting the flu!!!!

Lots of Love,

Lauren

More Weekend Fun!

Hey Guys,

Sorry it's been a couple days, but I've had a crazy busy weekend! This Friday was BW's Fall Break, so Gene & Katie came down for a visit (Gene is auditioning at CCM for grad school, and Katie just wanted to tag along for the visit!)

Friday night, I got a group together to go visit Hofbrauhaus in Newport, Ky (there are only three in the world - Newport, Pittsburgh, and Munich). Katie, Gene, my family, William, James, and James' parents all went out for beers (them) and delicious German food (all of us). Hofbrauhaus is SO much fun - I wish that I hadn't been tired, because there was tons of dancing on tables, live polka music (seriously!), cougars, and GIANT (liter-sized) in-house brewed beer that apparently is delicious.

Me & James (& James on beer #1)

Gene & Katie

My Mom & James' Mom

Me & William

William & a rose that my dad bought me :-)

My DELICIOUS dinner - JaegerSchnitzel, veggies, and a potato pancake. The JaegerSchnitzel is pounded, breaded, and fried pork with a musrhoom & bacon sauce (LOTS of pork!) and the potato pancake is DELICIOUS with applesauce... I was kind of nervous that it was going to be super-bacony, but really I couldn't tell at all. It was SO good and SO filling. Mmmm!

William

Me, Katie, & Gene

James telling secrets (& beer #3)

James (& beer #4)

On Saturday, we took a jaunt down to CCM, where I took Gene & Katie on a tour of CCM until there was some kind of security issue and alarms started going off. We headed out of the building at that point and went down to Ludlow, where Gene & Katie experienced their first tastes of Skyline Chili & Graeter's ice cream.

5-way (spaghetti, chili, beans, onion, cheese)

Katie with her Graeter's

Gene

Graeter's reppin' the support for Children's

Gene had to head out early Saturday evening because he has a church gig Sunday mornings up in Cleveland, so he had to get back up Saturday night to wake up for that. Katie & I headed out to do some shopping (I'm proud to say that I didn't buy anything!) and get some Tex-Mex for dinner. We'd had some big plans for a night out on the town on Saturday night, and we totally did! (I can't believe I forgot to take pictures!)

We dressed up and went to Below Zero on 12th & Sycamore for Human Rights/Equality night to hear our friend Erin play piano and sing. Unfortunately, we were running late and only caught the last couple songs of her set, but you should go check her out - she's AMAZING!

After that, we stopped by a bar/restaurant called Nada - it's right next to the big theater downtown, so it's pretty fancy & there were tons of people there. One of the bartenders is actually a guy in one of my classes (who I didn't recognize at first, and I felt SO bad about it!). Katie & I kept being hit on by this really creepy pair of OLDER men (think 60+), one of which was super drunk and kept wanting to kiss me for good luck (since I'm bald). After several emphatic rebuttals, he asked me if I would kiss him if he readjusted his dentures. The bartenders quickly intervened after that...

Finally, we went to Arnold's (the oldest bar in Cincinnati) to meet up with Kelvin (who I worked with this summer) and Mike (a guy I went to elementary/driving school with and had run into the previous night at Hofbrauhaus). We stayed there for a bit, then Katie & I headed home because she had to leave this morning to get back to to Berea for homework, etc.

I'm so glad that they came down to visit - I always love showing people around Cincinnati and taking them out to my favorite places. Thanks for visiting, guys!!!

Lots of Love,

Lauren

ps everyone should listen to this button!

Guess Who's Back

Hey Guys,

I'm back from my jaunt in Cleveland, and it was really, really fantastic to see everyone! I spent most of the weekend with Tyler & Katie, with a little bit of time having some delicious brunch in Oberlin (of course! where else am I going to eat brunch?!?) and got to see Matt & Marina, which is always a good time...

My mom says Winnie cried a lot while I was gone - I'm worried about what's going to happen when I leave her here for spring semester (so she doesn't have to be alone in my apartment all day...). I also brought home all of my winter clothes, which is nice (because I haven't worn them in months) but also sucks because I hate winter! Fall is beautiful, but I'm NOT a fan of cold weather at all... At least I'll be in Cincinnati for part of it, which is good because it doesn't get nearly as cold as Cleveland (even though they're only 4 hours apart)

Anyway, I go in again tomorrow for another treatment (always lots of fun). Only four left, though! I can't wait to be done - it seems so close now!

I should probably go to bed now, since I have to get up so early! But I'm watching Knocked Up on E!, so I'll probably be up for a little bit longer...

Also, I wanted to thank everyone who's sent me emails in the past few weeks - it's really great to hear peoples' stories and get to know you all. Thanks so much!

Lots of Love,

Lauren

Back in the 'Nati

Hey Guys,

I know it's super late (at least here in the US!) but I wanted to do a quick update to let you all know that I'm back in Cincinnati!

For those of you who didn't know ( I can't remember if I mentioned it in my last entry or not) I've been in Chicago with my mom for the last five days, and before that I was in Berea and Oberlin visiting all of my BW and Oberlin in Italy friends.

Since I'm a patient in the Day Hospital at Cincinnati Children's, the Day Hosp was closed for Labor Day (this past Monday) and since my scans all came back normal (woo!) Dr. Adams decided that it would be cool for me to delay treatments a week (since I always have treatments on Mondays). My mom and I decided to take advantage of this and take a quick trip up to Chicago.

Now, since it's 2:15 am here, and I've had a couple of drinks (thanks to the always wonderful William in celebration of my clean scans), I'm pretty tired and I keep mis-typing. I wanted to let you all know, though, that I'm back in town and back to blogging. I missed you all!

You'll get a more detailed account of my trips in the next post or two. Until then, GOOD NIGHT!

Lots of Love,

Lauren

Lauren van Winkle

Hey Guys,

I am not a morning person, but somehow I managed to drag myself out of bed at 6am yesterday. Maybe it was the promise of delicious chemo that got me up & at 'em so easily. ...I'm going to have to say probably not, though.

We actually made it to Children's early yesterday - my appointment was at 7:30, and we were sauntering in around 7:20 - potentially a new record? (My mom and I tend to run late for things...) We made it up to the check-in desk at Day Hospital just behind a woman talking really loudly on her cell phone, with an adorable little boy curled up sleeping in a wheelchair. The woman (it's still unclear if it was his mom or not) just stood there complaining into the phone about how she had to take "The Kid" to the hospital and he was giving her so much trouble today, and he was such a handful... The nurse kind of looked over after she got off the phone and gave the woman a doubtful look, with "He always seems so sweet here, and he's sleeping now!"

I feel really bad for some of the little kids at Children's, especially the ones who are really sick and don't have a support system from their families. Most of the time, you see the little tiny kids in their rooms all hooked up but looking relatively happy because they're surrounded by family and toys and don't really know any different (which is sad enough on its own). It's even worse to see the kids who are all tiny and hooked up but being yelled at by their parents, because they're not even surrounded by the positive energy they need to heal more quickly. I guess that's why Children's has such a great system of social workers checking in all the time (heck, I even have a social worker come in and check on me - but maybe that's because the staff thinks we've lost our minds because we laugh SO much...)

Anyway, I got Kristy yesterday, who is my favorite nurse. She's about 3 years older than I am, and is by FAR the best nurse I've ever had. She never waits to be asked to do something and is always in as soon as my machine starts to beep - sometimes even before I have to press the alert button! Usually, the nurses wait until Dr. Adams comes in before they'll access my port, but Kristy always does it right away so that as soon as the chemo order is filled, all she has to do is hook up the tubes, instead of letting it sit there while she hooks ME up also. Because of all of her awesome prompt nurse-work, I was unhooked and on my way out of Day Hospital by 11:20 - I'm ABSOLUTELY sure that's a record for us.

I was feeling pretty crappy by the time I got home, and Brian was cool enough to run to McDonald's and get me a milkshake and fries (which sounded so good at the time, but now thinking about it is making my stomach turn!) I spent a few hours up in my bed, alternately sleeping and watching a couple hours of THS:Investigates Various Terrible Crimes Against Beautiful People (I believe it was a mish-mash of "Husbands Who Kill" and "Young, Beautiful, and Missing," because I managed to catch a bit of Elizabeth Smart at the end...)

Later on in the day, I was able to keep down some ramen (knock on wood, but I've managed to keep the vomit count down to 0... I'd like it to stay that way, although some days take more willpower than others...)

I spent basically the rest of the night sleeping on the couch or sleeping in my bed with Winnie (who normally hates cuddling, but makes the sacrifice when I'm feeling crappy) so I feel a little like Rip van Winkle - when I woke up this morning, I had absolutely NO concept of what time it was. And it's raining (which I love) but when I got in bed yesterday afternoon, it was really sunny out...

I'm feeling pretty good at the moment (all hopped up on Kytril to stave of the nausea) and even considering meeting a friend for tea before he goes to New Zealand for three weeks - this, however, could take a turn for the worst when I make the first attempt to get downstairs and/or eat anything. The digestive system on chemo is a delicate beast...

Thanks for all of the comments people have been leaving! I love to hear from you!

Lots of Love,

Lauren

I'm not on Chemo, I'm the Cutting-Edge of Fashion

Hey Guys,

So my eyelashes have been thinning a bit, but the fantastic people at Dior have been keeping that pretty much unnoticeable (best mascara EVER). My eyebrows seem basically intact, but just in case they end up falling out, I wanted to point you all in this direction. If/when they come out, I'm on the cutting edge of the makeup trends. The "no-eyebrow" look is apparently all over the runways and print ads - Givenchy, Balenciaga, and Prada all featured eyebrow-less models for the Fall 2009 shows. Woohoo!

Also, I generally love to watch Bravo - Real Housewives, Top Chef, The Fashion Show - I love them all. However, I'm severely disappointed by NYC Prep and Miami Social. And they're on all the time! (sorry, just turned on the TV and Miami Social was on. They're driving me crazy. I should turn the channel...)

In a "side-effects update," so far I've been feeling pretty awesome today (knock on wood). I only had to take one kytril for nausea this morning (more of a precaution than anything else), but I'll probably be able to rely on zofran for the rest of the day. The kytril's really expensive and hard to get from the insurance company, so I need to stock it up for next week's treatment.

Finally, any advice about scarves? I've got a TON of beautiful silk scarves (lots of them hand-dyed) that people have given me or that I bought at Summerfair in anticipation of being bald. Since it's so hot, I haven't been wearing them on my head, but would love some more suggestions. Claire sent me a twitter link to tying headscarves, but I'd also love some advice about tying some of the bigger ones into skirts, shirts, or dresses... share the love, my fashionable friends!

Lots of Love,

Lauren

ps what do you think of the new purple theme? I just found out the "Purple Ribbon" is for Hodgkin's, so I thought I'd change up the page colors a little bit to represent that :-)

Change is Good

Hey Guys,

I mentioned before that Sarah Sullivan came to visit me yesterday. Since she works for Children's, she's able to share a lot about what's going on "behind the scenes" - the parts of the hospital that the patients don't see, but that keep everything moving smoothly (well, as smoothly as a hospital can run!)

This morning, Sarah emailed my dad & I with a great article that had been published for Children's staff members. It's all about the changes the hospital is making to help things become more efficient, especially in the area of patient waiting times. My family has been in and out of Children's a lot over the past nine years or so (years of treatment and scans for Brian, and now myself...) and it's really great to be able to see all of the past changes occur, and even better to be able to see what the hospital wants to change in the future. I was so happy to read this article, because a lot of times you wonder if the people who run things even realize what the real problems are for the patients. I know for myself, the waiting time to start chemo is really frustrating - especially on my short treatment days. I've had to wait three hours for someone to write an order so I can get less than two hours of chemo! Now, I know that's still better than being an inpatient, but patients shouldn't have to wait longer than their treatment time to get the treatment started! It was really refreshing to see that Children's recognizes that wait times are something they need to fix, and have actually drawn up a plan to make that change happen! That's one of the many reasons I'm thrilled to have been taken on as a Children's patient!

Also, congrats to Children's for moving up from 5th place to become the 3rd best Children's hospital in the country! Woohoo!

In my world, I'm definitely reaching a point where the chemo's building up enough for the side effects to start getting a little worse... usually after this first treatment, I feel slightly crappy that evening, but fine by the time I wake up in the morning. However, it's 7:50pm and I'm still nauseous! Maybe I should start eating more bland foods... or some ginger ale! I've got some achy joints from the Vincristine, but nothing unmanageable - no trouble with stairs or anything, but I was a little stiff after the "Tour of Clifton" I gave my mom today. We drove around areas of Clifton she'd never really been to - especially the Gaslight District (so pretty!)

On a funny note, I'm definitely bald, but I'd say I've still got about 10% of my hair... and that 10% is growing... and growing... I'm going to have to ask my mom to buzz it off again, or it's going to start looking silly! My little chicken fuzz hairs that are left have gotten long enough now that they're starting to curl...

Finally, one of my friends posted this on Facebook, and I thought it was pretty funny/ridiculous, so I'm posting it here for all of you to enjoy. This guy watched every episode of Friends in one sitting - over 80 hours of TV! He broke the World Record for longest TV watching (or something like that...)

Lots of Love,

Lauren

ps the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is holding a Light the Night walk at Sawyer Point in Downtown Cincinnati on Thursday, September 24. I'd love to be able to get a team of family and friends to walk, so anyone who's in the Cincinnati area (no matter how well we know each other), please feel free to send me a message or give me a call and let me know if you'd like to participate! Find more details HERE... Thank you guys all so much!

Another Day, Another Round of Chemo...

Hey Guys,

Well... I'm almost halfway done... today was, all in all, one of the best treatment days I've had (in no small part to my awesome visitors)

I can't remember if I've mentioned this before, but Children's offers free therapeutic massages to all their patients. I got my first one last week, and now I'm officially on the massage therapist's schedule, which means that every time I come in for a treatment, she's notified, and I get to have a massage! (woohoo!)

As you can see in the picture above, it's not like a regular massage - I lay in my hospital bed (fully clothed) and she works VERY gently so that nothing gets too sore. She asks what I want to have her focus on (usually my neck and shoulders - too much computer time!) and then she always gives me a little bit of a head and ear massage.

After the massage, my nurse came back in to access my port, and I made a terrible mistake. Usually I lay so that my back is to the nurse while she accesses me, but today she stood on the other side so that I was facing her. This was not a good plan. As I've mentioned before, I get numbing cream to put on my port before I get to the hospital so I won't feel it when they access me. Today was no different - except that it was the first time that I actually SAW the needle they use. It looks kind of like a plug - except instead of prongs for the electrical socket, there's a 3/4" long needle in it's place. 3/4" may not sound particularly big, but it is when it's a needle about to be stuck in your side! So, due to this unfortunate turn of events, I tensed up a lot before she put the needle in, and even though the skin was numb, it was the first time it's ever hurt to be accessed. I'm pretty sure that had something to do with me watching.

After this though, everything went really smoothly. I had some fantastic guests! William came around 11am, armed with the perfect selection of DVDs... among them were Angels in America, Arrested Development (one of my favorite TV shows), The Emperor's New Groove (thank you, Disney), and A Mighty Wind... we watched the second part of Angels in America (William commented a couple of nights ago when I told him to bring it "Are you sure you want to watch a miniseries about AIDS while you're getting chemo?" I responded with "Well... at least I don't have AIDS...") and later watched a little bit of A Mighty Wind... just to cheer the place up a little after an hour of depression.

Thanks, William, for being such a fantastic visitor and staying for almost my ENTIRE treatment - and being hilarious company the whole time! We managed to take a few pictures at one point - notice how much more tan he is than I am... (I guess that's what happens when he works at a pool and I work in a tiny office with no windows...)

Also, he was pretty tired all afternoon (apparently last night was a little crazy) and opted to "take a nap" while my mom was taking pictures... complete with a cuddly bear (courtesy of Sarah!)

Sarah Sullivan also came to visit - she works at Children's, and we met her a few years ago when she first started working there. I love seeing and talking to Sarah, especially now, because she's not much older than I am, and had Hodgkin's when she was my age. It's really wonderful to have someone who went through almost the exact same thing so close by to talk with! It's also especially encouraging because she's pregnant and due on October 11 - that really gives me hope that the treatments won't damage my fertility (which is something I was a little worried about before I talked to Sarah). She stopped by for about an hour, and brought me an adorable stuffed bear (which is awesome, since I hadn't been wanting to bring my "special friends" to the hospital for fear of leaving them behind - yes, I have "special friends" at the age of 22...) as well as a stress ball. I'm pretty sure that will come in handy - I get stressed a LOT and I've been having some pain in my right arm that relaxes when I squeeze a fist... the ball was helping me relax it a lot in my bed.

(me & Sarah... she looks a lot better than I do!)

I also have some good (I hope) news in regards to my tremors and tingling! I talked to the OTHER Sarah (my fellow) and she told me that people my age generally feel those side effects worse than others, and wrote me a prescription for something called Neurontin, which is a pill I take three times a day, everyday (boo to more pills) throughout my treatment. It's sort of like a painkiller, but won't make me groggy and I have to take it all the time for it to work. She says it usually works really well (and my mom's friend Sue agrees), so I'm hoping when I come up to Cleveland in a couple of weeks, I won't be so shaky and weird.

Finally, I wanted to thank Claire at A Little Piece of Me for sending me this fantastic sketch - we've been communicating through a blogger network, and exchanging stories - she offered to send me a sketch, and I told her about a joke I have with some of my friends about having the crappiest superpower ever... I think it's pretty funny!

Lots of Love,

Lauren

Before I Forget...

Hey Guys,

I wanted to post this quickly before I forget - I've been starting to get Chemo Brain and I've been forgetting things A LOT (even more than usual - I know that's hard to believe!)... for example, this morning I asked my mom twice within five minutes if she wanted to share some bacon at breakfast...

Anyway, I came across this when I was doing some reading on a Lymphoma information site (if you have any questions I haven't answered in my posts and for some reason you don't want to ask, definitely check out that site... it's got some of the most detailed info I've found on the web! But seriously - you should feel free to ask me ANYTHING)... I've definitely gotten off topic, and I wanted to share a really great e-card site with you all. These cards are hilarious! I love the humor - I saved some of the pictures to my iPhoto, and they totally give me a lift when I'm feeling bad. Check this one out - it's one of my favorites:

That's all for now, but you'll hear from me again soon! Also, a HUGE thanks to Dennis Pyritz from www.beingcancer.net for adding me to his blogroll as a resource for other Hodgkin's patients... I'm so happy to (hopefully) be able to help other people!

Lots of Love,

Lauren

Home Sweet Home

Hey Guys,

I'm back in Cincinnati - a little earlier than planned, but due to Tyler's car troubles and a family emergency with Katie, I ended up not having anything to do last night, so I decided to drive home.

Katie - I want you to know that I'm thinking about your Grandma, and I hope that everything turns out as well as possible! If you ever need to talk or if you have any questions about anything, please feel free to call me! I hope you can make it down to Cincinnati, but definitely stay home if your family needs you!

I had a great time in Berea/Oberlin - the drive up was boring (as usual) but it was fantastic to be back for a few days. I got to see a lot of Madeline, Vanessa, Ben, and Will, as well as a return to Maya (best mexican restaurant EVER - I miss it so much when I'm at home!) I also was able to go and spend some time in Oberlin with Matt & his roommates, which was massive amounts of fun (also as usual)

I was worried on my way up - I was having some issues with the tingling/burning in my legs, which got a little worse (it's mostly gone now, but I'm going to have to talk to my doctor about it when I get back to Children's on Monday) and my hands have been shaking so bad lately that I've been having trouble opening my pill bottles, putting on makeup, typing, dialing the phone, etc... For a few days, it was terrible all day long (Matt kept asking if I was nervous because my hands were visibly shaking so much) but now it's the worst in the morning, and mostly tapers off as the day goes on. I'm hoping they'll be able to give me something to calm that down a little bit, because it's really frustrating, especially with the typing and phone usage. I'm also anticipating a little bit of trouble with piano playing this fall once classes start (still waiting to hear back, though...)

I got really sad last night when I was leaving - it sucks a lot not being able to go back to school for the fall. As much as I know that it's not always fun when I'm in classes, I still really, really want to be going back. It'll be hard once I know that everyone is back for the semester and I'm stuck at home in Cincinnati...

Finally, I was on msn today and was reading Dear Prudence on Slate Magazine and came across this question, which made me really sad... (it's the third question in the article). It made me so thankful for all of the unwavering support I get from my family and all of you guys. Thanks for everything.

Lots of Love,

Lauren

ps Thanks to Holly to all of the great advice in comments you've left! I don't know how to reply to comments that people leave, but I wanted to let you know that I'm reading and appreciating them!

pps I'll be back up to Berea the week of August 30, when everyone will be back! There are a bunch of you who weren't in town that I REALLY want to see!

on the upside...

Hey Guys,

I've been thinking the past few days and I've realized that despite all of the really crappy side effects of the chemo, there are actually a few that I've been really enjoying! (I know that probably sounds really weird)

1) hair loss means ALL hair - not just on your head... this means that I haven't had to shave my legs or under my arms in a few weeks - which is great for the summer

2) hair loss also means shorter showers - a time AND money saver... especially when I'm used to having too much hair, which clogged the shower drains and took forever to wash & dry

3) freckles! I've always wanted freckles, and I've noticed in the past few days that the chemo has been giving me tiny little freckles on my cheeks - apparently they're only temporary, but I'm enjoying them while they last!

4) the BEAUTIFUL skin that is the result of a combo of chemo drugs & bactrum (the antibiotic I have to take twice a day on Mon, Tues, Wed to prevent a chemo-specific strain of pneumonia). My skin is fantastic - clear, smooth, and glowing like I've gotten a facial (but not)

5) people in public assume that because I'm bald, I'm either on chemo or really edgy (since I still have a tiny bit of hair as well as eyebrows and eyelashes), so they're always clearing the way for me to walk through or holding doors... nobody wants to mess with a bald girl

6) I don't have to worry about my hair messing up in the rain... I can just wipe of my head and be done with it! (I still have to worry about my makeup running, though...)

...That's my list for now. I'm not sure I'll come up with much more, but I'm glad there are at least a few good things coming out of this!

Also, I have a funny story to share...

Today I was at IKEA with my family, looking for a futon for Andrew's dorm. So far, I haven't had any issues with strangers commenting at my bald head, and few instances of anyone staring (even little kids). However, today there was a little girl that made me laugh so hard I started crying... I was walking through the store and passed a tiny girl and her bald dad... She was maybe two, three at the oldest. She starts pointing and yelling "That girl has no hair!" I smiled and waved at her, and her dad looked mortified - he picked her up, and she kept yelling - even AFTER he put a pacifier in her mouth and tried to take her around the corner. We ran into them later, and he looked so embarrassed, but I don't particularly care - little kids are basically uncontrollable with what they say! The fact that she was so insistent about it made me laugh so hard - I can imagine that I was probably like that as a

little kid. My mom says I would never stop talking.

Lots of Love,

Lauren

ps here are some pictures of me decked out in a couple of wigs from the opera... Thanks to James Geier for letting me try them on!

Me as Susanna from the Marriage of Figaro

Me as Carmen from... well... Carmen - I look good as a gypsy

No More Hair!

Hey Guys,

For those of you who haven't heard yet, I am now officially bald! (well, except for a few stragglers that insist on hanging on & giving me a nice Alfalfa look when the light hits my head right)

(Tyler & I on our way to Ainadamar/Prom)

The Big Event happened all at once - unfortunately while poor Tyler was visiting. Last week, it had started thinning so I put off washing it until Thursday night's Ainadamar After-Party (I wanted to make sure I had a little hair to go with my awesome dress)... The next morning when I got in the shower, it all came out AT ONE TIME!!! For about 10 minutes I had a great "Little Old Man" look - about 20 pieces of inch-long hair scattered across my scalp. Needless to say, my mom was pretty shocked when I called her up to see it. Fortunately, she has the clippers and got right to buzzing the rest of it down to the scalp.

I was afraid that I'd be really traumatized when it happened, and I have to admit, there were a few tears - but all in all, I'm not hating the look. The worst part about being bald is that my head is ALWAYS cold! I haven't been wearing my wig because it's so hot outside, but it's freezing in my office! I've been wearing scarves occasionally, but they're kind of a pain sometimes (especially when I'm running around the building constantly). So far, I've gotten really good reactions about the new 'do... People (especially guys) seem to be fascinated with the fact that I don't have hair AND I'm not covering it up - the guys at the Opera (gay and straight) love coming up and touching my head (which I find hilarious and extremely unexpected)... It's also cool to be able to play with makeup and jewelry in a way that I wasn't able to when I had tons of hair... So far, the only person who seems to take any issue with my baldness is one of the Supernumerary Kids in Carmen - she keeps giving me weird looks, and I'm pretty sure she doesn't like my haircut...

On a different note, I started my second round of chemo on Monday (only 5.5 more to go!) and it went pretty much as smoothly as the first one. Well, after it FINALLY got started... When I got in on Monday morning, there was a HUGE backup in the Day Hospital due to a bunch of unexpected emergency kids, and I didn't end up getting started for about 2 hours after my appointment was supposed to start.

(Me & Tom)

After the chemo finally got started, though, everything was great. I was really happy to have a visit from Tom Jaworek and his mom (who is a good friend of my mom) - he's a couple years older than I am and is being treated at Children's right now also, so it was good to have him come up and say hi - we've never been in at the same time before... Also Molly and Dan stopped by with some games (that ended up not getting played), and it was fantastic to have Molly visit! She actually spent the entire visit in my hospital bed with me, which was awesome. Melissa came later on in the day, which was great - especially for my mom, who needed a break from the hospital room and was able to take some time to run down to the cafeteria and grab some food.

(Me & Molly!)

On the topic of food, Children's Hospital is great because they have "room service" that the patients (generally kids) can call and order from - it's a HUGE menu, with all kinds of kid-friendly foods that take me back to my childhood... Unfortunately, since it is a CHILDREN'S hospital, when you order off the "room service," everything comes in kid's portions... which gets EXTREMELY frustrating when you're 22 and have an appetite much bigger than the average patient. First of all, when I call, they always ask me for my child's information... and then expect me to order food for a kid... I generally forget that there will be a child's portion, and end up getting something like 3 fishsticks or 4 raviolis... not enough for a meal! The good thing, though, is that the cafeteria downstairs is FANTASTIC (although a little expensive), but we can also bring our own snacks.

...And even some more about food...

Originally, when I had my first treatment, I was given a short list of foods to avoid during the week that I was on oral chemo. The list consisted of bananas, citrus fruit, cheese, dark beer, and wine... all of which I was totally okay to stay away from - I hate bananas, I had mouth sores so citrus hurt, and I generally don't drink tons of alcohol, so that was cool to avoid. Unfortunately, because of the mouth sores, I lost my appetite and lost almost 10lbs in one week (don't worry, I've since gained it back)... Because of the weight loss, when I came back in for my treatment on Monday, they had a dietician come in to give me some options for healthy, high calorie foods (I was happy about this because I'd been eating a lot of high-calorie junk food, which was also making me sick since I was used to a healthy diet...) When she came, she also brought with her a list of foods that caused interactions with the oral drug I'm on. The list she had was MUCH longer than the list I had originally received, and includes things that are much harder to avoid. No foods that have been fermented or aged in any way (no alcohol, cheese, yogurt, soy sauce, ripe fruit, milk close to its expiration date, sausage, pepperoni, salami) and nothing that's been processed (lunch meat, meat treated with tenderizers, gravy, meat stock/broth, etc.) as well as a variety of things such as raspberries, avocados, chocolate, and caffeine (all of which I'm very disappointed about). Plus, I had to avoid all of those foods two weeks after I finished the drug - basically 3 out of 4 weeks of each cycle. We were immediately worried because I've been eating LOTS of those things and we were afraid that they had messed with my chemo.

Fortunately (sort of), we found out that while they won't mess with the chemo, they will cause a variety of other side effects that I'd been experiencing, but had no idea why - high blood pressure and plus, tingling in my extremities - all things that are kind of worrisome. So now I'm on a pretty careful diet of basically fresh veggies and chicken, with some extra stuff thrown in every once in awhile. I'm happy that I can still eat ice cream, because I'm worried that I'm going to lose more weight while I'm basically on this low-calorie diet for the next six months or so. The dietician gave me a bunch of high-calorie snacks and shakes I can make, which all sound pretty delicious (lots involving peanut butter, milk, and ice cream - I can't complain about that!)

Finally, I want to thank the Ross family for the BEAUTIFUL bouquet of flowers I came home to on Monday evening - they still look amazing, and my room smells fantastic... the smell and the flowers are wonderful to wake up to every morning! Thank you so much!

Also, I want to send good vibes out to Tom and the rest of the Jaworek family - Tom had his big surgery Wednesday, and Jacqueline called to say he was doing well, but I'm thinking of all of you and looking forward to seeing you guys soon!

Lots of Love,

Lauren

ps - for all of you up in the Cleveland/Berea area, I'll be up at T in the P for a week or so starting August 2 or 3... give me a call/send me a message so we can get together!

At the Opera...

Hey Guys,

Today I decided I'm going to do an entry about my summer job! I keep getting lots of questions from all you guys who are out of Cincinnati wanting to know how it's going, what I do, etc...

My official "title" is the Rehearsal Department Intern, which is an internship in the Production Department.

As the Rehearsal Department Intern, mostly I deal with scheduling - I work with Stephanie (who is the Production Coordinator) to obtain, write, publish, and distribute the schedules for any events, meetings, rehearsals, etc. that occur throughout the season. Usually what happens is that the Stage Manager of a particular production will bring the calls for the next day to Stephanie and she will put them into the schedule format. After this (as long as there are no last minute changes!) I take the draft of the schedule to Glenn (the Director of Production) and Marcus (the Director of Artistic Operations) to have it approved. Glenn looks for things like crew hours, space issues, and "production" based problems, and Marcus checks the artists' hours to make sure that no one is rehearsing more than their contract allows.

After Glenn and Marcus approve the schedule, I get to make enough copies of the schedule for everyone in the company - from the business side to the artistic side to the production side to the artists themselves, almost everyone who works for the opera gets a copy of the schedule in some form, and I get to pass out alllllllll of the hard copies.

For the rest of the day, I sit at a vanity (seriously, it's a counter in a dressing room with a mirror surrounded by lights...) in an "office" that I share with Stephanie (my boss)... we answer phones, answer questions about the schedule (and all sorts of random things) from artists, etc. ...

During performances, mostly I sit in my office, but people are always coming to visit - some of our chorus friends, Jared (the Associate Artistic Administrator) and his assistant, The Other Lauren... All kinds of fun people - we always have people coming and going, which makes things pretty interesting once we've gotten the schedule out for the day...

I've only got a few weeks left here, but so far it's been one of the best experiences I've ever had. A couple of summers ago, I sang with the opera chorus, and I had no idea how much work went into the rehearsals, etc.... Now I hope that when I was in the chorus that I was kind and courteous to all of the staff members! yikes!

On another note, I'm totally going to plug AINADAMAR (click on the link for the Cincinnati Opera's website & more info) for all you people who are here in Cincinnati - it's a FANTASTIC modern opera about the life of Spanish playwright Federico Garcia Lorca, Margaret Xirgu, and a few other key players... It's in Spanish and only 90 minutes long, plus the music is BEAUTIFUL - there's a guitar and a flamenco singer. It's completely different than any other opera I've ever seen before. If you've never seen opera, or if you've seen opera but not enjoyed the length/plot/music, AINADAMAR is the perfect opera to come see... 7/9 and 7/11 at 7:30 with a HUGE dance party in the ballroom after the 7/9 performance... send me a message or give me a call if you want tickets at half price!

Also my hair is coming out for real now... every morning for the past couple of days, I've been waking up with a liberal sprinkling of hair all over my pillow - I'm afraid to wash it because I'm worried it's all going to come out at once! My wig is getting it's last styling this Thursday, so I'm hoping a reasonable amount of my hair will stay in until then so I'm not walking around with what my mom and brother call "leopard hair"

Finally, I wanted to thank everyone who has sent me cards/gifts/etc in the mail... I have a whole shelf in my room now with beautiful (and some hilarious) cards that people have sent me... Thank you guys all so much for your support! I really appreciate it A LOT!

Lots of Love,

Lauren

and so it begins...

Well guys,

it looks like this treatment ended up being a little worse than the previous one - I was especially disappointed since yesterday was my birthday - I had hoped that since it was supposed to be a two-hour appointment that I'd be able to maybe go to dinner with my family and then meet up with some friends this evening.

It all started out pretty well - I didn't have my usual doctor because she wasn't working until later (she eventually came in to say hi, but more about that later). Instead another guy, Dr Weiss, came in to do a quick exam and sign off on all of my drugs. He was really cool, and talked to us about the bands he's in and was happy to talk to Andrew about South Jordan's recent managerial successes.

My nurse this week was a little slower, which was annoying because it took MUCH longer to get started than it should have - but from then on, we tried to make sure to keep on top of things so that as soon as the chemo was started we could move through quickly.

and some exciting news! Dr. Adams had told me several times NOT to keep touching the lump in my neck because sometimes lumps take a long time to shrink and that continually feeling it would just be aggravating and nerve-wracking. However, being as impatient as I am, I felt it a couple of times throughout the week and each time I thought it might be a little smaller (but was also figuring I was probably just imagining it). BUT! When Dr. Adams popped in later on her rotation to say hi, she did a quick feel of all of my lymph-node areas (especially my neck) and did a little cheer! So, even though I'm pretty sure that the enlarged node in my neck isn't gone, it's definitely SIGNIFICANTLY smaller! I'm really happy to not be able to feel the Hodgkin's anymore - that was really bizarre, knowing it was right there under my fingers. I'm also extremely happy to know that the chemo's already taking effect! I was sure that I'd have to wait several weeks to see any real/physical proof that the treatment was working.

On the other side though, I think today is the day that my hair started to fall out a little. Not in huge clumps, but I had noticed that individual hairs had been falling more frequently this morning, and then when I was in Target, I reached up to grab what I thought was a stray piece off the back of my neck only to find that it was a small handful - and another small handful a couple minutes after that. So far, it's only been that tiny bit - but even that I wasn't expecting to happen so soon! My mom thinks it's probably because of the week of oral chemo I was on - even though I've only been in the hospital twice for treatments, I'd basically had 8 days of chemo in a row. I'm crossing my fingers that it only falls out slowly until I can pick up my "cranial prosthesis" (wig) on Friday morning!

Yesterday and today have been really weird days. Mostly, I've been feeling ok - some sporadic nausea that I've been taking some really great drugs for, so that hasn't been too bothersome. By far the weirdest thing has been just a sense of being unsettled - I had wanted to go into work today, but between my mom and Stephanie, I was convinced that staying home was a better idea. My mom also persuaded me that going out with my Cinci friends for my birthday should probably wait until Wednesday night. It's frustrating because I only feel a little sick, but I have a whole feeling like something just isn't right. I can't wait til the end of the week so hopefully I'll start feeling like normal again.

Other than the slight nausea and a general feeling of strangeness, I have gotten the most bizarre taste in my mouth. I'm really hoping this goes away soon! It makes everything taste slightly sour, even when I'm just sitting here typing. My mom was prepared for this and (at the recommendation of several friends) has stocked up on peppermint altoids - good for nausea AND this weird taste. I made sure to rinse my mouth out before dinner - that helped things taste basically normal, which was GREAT because my mom made the most delicious chicken and my dad and brothers helped with what ended up looking like Thanksgiving. It was the first entire meal I've actually had the appetite to eat in almost a week - and much more nutritious than the boxes and boxes of cartoon Kraft Mac&Cheese that I've been craving (for some strange reason)

As for my birthday yesterday, despite being a little sick and tired for most of the day, it was really nice to be able to have a day and lay around with my family (and cats!) My dad went out and got some Graeter's ice cream because I was nervous about mixing nausea and cake, and I opened some presents - one thing I love about my family is that they're always so great about knowing the right things to pick! Brian's gift was especially thoughtful - he took a professional-looking "portrait" of Winnie (the kitten) to go with a similar picture of my older cat (Madeline) that I have in my apartment at school. He even picked out a frame that matched and had it setup for me when I woke up from a nap! As an extra surprise, my Grandma sent me a quilt she made - it's so beautiful! She had mentioned something about making one a few weeks ago, but I had no idea it was going to be finished so quickly! She used really colorful patches backed with fleece... it's SO WARM and adorable! (at some point I will post a picture of me under the quilt - probably with a cat)

Finally,

I want to thank EVERYONE who called and sent me messages yesterday - my voicemail isn't working (I need to reset it), but I do have a list in my received calls box to call back! So thank you all very much and don't worry - You'll be hearing back from me soon!

Lots of Love,

Lauren

First Treatment (with photos!)

Hey Guys!

Sorry it took so long to get all of this posted - I just got a new laptop & I've been playing with it & trying to figure out how to get everything to work (including loading new pictures)

ANYWAY...

Back to Monday - I had my first chemo treatment, and it went just about as smoothly (maybe even more so) than I had anticipated! Unfortunately, I had to get there at 7:30am, which kind of sucked, but later on in the day I got to nap, so that made u

p for the missed morning sleep.

I was surprised at how quickly I got taken back to my room - everything was all setup and waiting for me, with a little bucket that I referred to as my "Welcome Basket" - with all of my IV paraphernalia and bags of fluids that they were planning on giving me that day.

I met with my doctor and the fellow who would be following my doctor & helping her keep track of everything. In a coincidence, the fellow's name is Sarah and we happen to have the same birthday! So this coming Monday when I go in for my treatment, I'm planning on bringing a couple of cupcakes for a little morning celebration (and hope that I can get out early enough to have a real celebration!)

The most nerve-wracking part of the entire day was having my port accessed. Earlier in the morning, my mom had put some numbing cream (Emla) on it so that the skin over my port would be completely numb before I was accessed, but since I'd only had it put in a few days before, it was a little swollen and raw and I was really afraid it was still going to hurt.

However, it was so quick I probably wouldn't have even noticed it if I hadn't had to lay in a kind of awkward position. The nurse was fantastic - she was only a couple years older than I am, and she was really cool about getting everything done quickly. Basically, when she put the IV in my port, it just felt like she was pushing down on the cap of a jar that had already been opened (which was a weird but kind of cool sensation under my skin):

After I had my port accessed, it was a little sore and would be sore on and off for the rest of the day, but my nurse told me that it had to do with the fact that it was new and tender - she's right... it's been over a week now since I had it put in and now I basically forget that it's there...

For the rest of the day, I mostly just hung out with my mom and my brother. My brother had been at a sleepover the night before, and was a HUGE source of emotional support from his place on the recliner next to my bed:

He basically slept the entire day! I was extremely jealous...

One thing that I wasn't expecting was how easy the treatment was. When they came and changed my bag from saline fluids to the chemo, I was expecting to be able to tell the difference... Maybe start having some side effects right away or getting more tired, but for the most part I couldn't tell the difference. Until I started sweating. That was the only side effect that I experienced for the majority of the day - I felt like I was going through menopause and having hot flashes! I was sweating SO MUCH and was really happy that I wore layers. The sweating wasn't bothering me too much though until I had to get a shot in my bottom (which didn't hurt at the time but felt SO bruised for several days afterwards). It was totally worth it though because the shot makes it so I won't have my period for three months... I'm thinking people should ALWAYS have this shot!

Another interesting thing about being at Children's is how accommodating everyone is - the nurses and doctors are so kind and were really great about explaining everything to me, not just assuming that if I wanted to know something that I'd ask a question. A lot of the time, I didn't even know that I wanted to ask a question until they had already answered it! It was awesome, too, that I had a room service menu that I could order off of and they'd bring me almost anything I wanted within 45 minutes. The menu was HUGE and had everything from cereal and gummy bears to spaghetti dinners and pretty much anything you can think of - especially fun kids food like teddy grahams and chicken nuggets... I took full advantage of that and ordered two lunches.

I also got to leave a lot earlier than I had been anticipating. I had assumed I'd be there til about 8pm, but was home by about 5:30 - it was great, because I was able to have dinner at home and relax a little. The doctor and nurses had also been preparing me to get pretty sick that morning and the next day, but I felt almost perfectly fine. I had a little bit of nausea, but they gave me some great medication called Zofran that took that away almost immediately.

I was feeling so great for the first couple of days after I had my first treatment, but I probably should have looked a little closer at what I was eating. I'm taking a couple of oral drugs, and I knew the oral chemo had several food interactions, so I was being very careful to stay away from cheese, bananas, coffee, soft drinks, wine, and beer (the coffee, wine, and beer are especially hard when I'm working with so many fun people who I love going out with) - but I hadn't realized that I had to stay away from spicy as well. I made the terrible mistake of having some incredible pad thai that my wonderful boss Stephanie brought for dinner on Wednesday, and unfortunately, I'm still paying for it. I was supposed to start a mouth-care regime when I had my first treatment, but I'm pretty sure they forgot to give it to me until I called my nurse on Thursday because I've started to develop mouth sores. They're not sores yet, but they're raw spots all around my tongue and at the back of my throat. They weren't expecting me to get them so soon, but since I LOVE spicy food and didn't know to stay away from it, they've started earlier. I'm on something now, but am very disappointed to be having to stick to a bland diet until it all heals up (my mom assures me that this will happen soon, and if I stick with my mouthwash, they hopefully won't be a problem again). You'd be surprised at how fast a mostly ice cream and milkshake diet starts to suck.

Another side effect I've started seeing is the weight loss - although I can't tell if it's from the chemo directly or from not wanting to eat because of the sores. I'm afraid that they're going to put me on some kind of special diet because I've lost a few pounds since Monday, but I guess things could be much worse.

I've also been keeping up at work really well - I love my job and I've been making some new friends with the chorus people that I didn't know before and with some of the other interns. I want to give a HUGE thank-you to Deb Van Engen and all of the lovely chorus members who gave me a mani-pedi from Mitchell's yesterday, along with a very sweet card. You guys are so fantastic, and thank you so much for thinking of me!

That's basically all for now - I go back in on Monday, and will definitely be updating sooner! It'll be my birthday, so hopefully things will be a little more festive! Also since I've been less tired, I'm planning on attending more opera events, so look out for some fun tidbits about all of the crazy people I encounter coming in and out of this building...

As a sign-out story, I'll give you a quick story about a character I met last night.

As the rehearsal department intern with the opera, I do a lot of sitting in a converted dressing room and answering phones and questions. Last night, after the piano tech was over and the production people were having the post-rehearsal meeting, I was approached by one of the older first-time supernumeraries. This is not an area which I have any answers for. He begins by arguing with me about the call time for the Dress Rehearsal tonight. When I finally convince him that he does indeed need to show up at 5:30 instead of 6:30, he proceeds to ask me if he will be allowed to bring his clothes and his wallet into my office tomorrow for me to hold onto for him. I explain that that is something he will have to discuss with the Supernumerary Captain, and that I am not responsible for his belongings. Finally, he leaves me with this lovely mental image: he asks if he will be allowed to have his makeup applied in his underwear, and then "hang out" in his underwear until he is required onstage since his costume is extremely hot.

I had no words.

Talk to you soon,

Lots of love,

Lauren