My Quest Fulfilled!

You guessed it--things went well at Quest today! I feel like I found a secret little lab that functions well and no one knows about. Seriously, I'm afraid to tell you which one I went to since so many of you are Riversiders also. Then you'll all start going there and suddenly my little oasis will be...well, it will be like the Raincross one. Oh, wait. You all don't have to have your blood drawn weekly. Okay, so you can know. 6926 Brockton. Don't blink or you'll miss it. It took me longer to find parking than it did to get in and get my blood drawn. And yes, I made my appointment online. 11:50a.m. And I was in my car finished up and heading to Starbucks before noon (yes, coffee tastes good again; and is necessary again). Halleleujah! Something went right with healthcare in Riverside. Gosh, I wish I could just quit now.

Of course, I can't quit this cancer ride. It just keeps going. I'm getting ready for chemo #2 on Thursday. This time I take less anti-nausea/ less steroid medication (before the chemo starts and the morning of) and I'm wondering why that is. It seemed to work great last time, so why change? I have to trust in the doctor...but uh, yeah, that's hard (is she even back from Switzerland??). And then there will be this new medication to help avoid the whole white blood cell count crash. The new medication causes mild to severe bone pain in 30% of patients. Great. Is this a good trade? Well, yes, I suppose (105 temperature is decidedly not a good thing). And of course we have big plans for this weekend. Involving lots of dogs and people. Sound familiar? No, not Beaglefest. It's the Riverside Humane Society Walk with the Animals at Fairmount Park on Saturday. If I'm feeling good (um, no bone pain please) we'll stop by. Me, Chris and Seamus of course. But only if I am up for it. Seems like I can't really get used to one thing before the next obstacle gets thrown up. It's like it's a journey or something?!

But the obstacle I'm currently working on is this hair thing. So the red wig. I'm not sure I like it as much now (notice no picture postings). And I really can't handle the hair falling in my face all the time (the wig has no real "part"). If I'm feeling okay on Friday I'll be taking the wig and my newly bald head to Diane the wig lady to see if she can style it. I may need bangs cut--which is scary because of course, they don't grow back. Oh, and on the bald thing--not quite totally yet. But close. It's really strange how much hair can fall out without being bald. And the weirdest part is the hairline up front. That's holding strong. Odd.

So here's my competition. This is Jayden Pierce. My assistant Michelle had her baby on March 7th and she brought him by to visit. See how much hair he has? I have just about that much now. Only I'm just a lot less cute. And my head is a lot bigger. But he's the one I'm having the hair race with--whether he knows it or not. Who will have a full head of hair first? It's good for a baby to be involved in a competiton before he's even a month old isn't it? I like to think I'm inspirational like that. Or, that is just another reason it's a good thing I don't have children. (As though the stellar job I've done with Seamus wasn't proof enough). Chris also points out that the baby also probably has more white blood cells than I do. The photo on the right? Yeah, that's how I feel about the bald thing too.

Another fun surprise today--Stacey Aldstadt sent me flowers. Another beautiful creation from Flowerloft. She knew I was having a bit of a tough week. Thanks, Stacey! I also got a card in the mail at work (thanks Ricki!) and then another at home (Thanks Trudi!). Seems I get about one or two a day...and that's really nice too. It's good when the cards outnumber the meds....not all of you can say that.