I </3 Chemo.

Today was my 3rd treatment of Adriamycin/Cytoxan. I was actually feeling pretty good this past week (like a Rockstar, in fact :-) so I think I kind of forgot that I was getting toxic chemicals pumped into my body today. Right now I feel pretty ookey. Slightly better than after my first treatment, but not as good as after my last treatment.

Mom and I were discussing how much we both looked forward to "chemo day". It sounds odd, I know, but think about it this way - I get to sleep in, I get to meet with my oncologist (we all really like him), I get to read Martha (the magazine, that is), and I get to spend all day with my mom and Rusty. All this, and I don't have to do anything.

So, I was kind of looking forward to this today. I've had a busy week and I was getting a little tired. As it turns out, I found out that's probably because I have low hemoglobin (that and I didn't get as much sleep as I should have). Mr. Wizard reviewed my results. White blood cell counts are good (almost normal, in fact), platelets are a little low. If I remember correctly, my hemoglobin is 11, and we would have trouble with my next treatment if it drops below 10.

Interestingly enough, and I should have told him this but I didn't think of it... I've been rejected from giving blood before because of low hemoglobin and the cutoff for that is 12. So, this is really not that unusual for me, but I've been eating lots of meat this week and it's obviously not enough. These next two weeks I'm really going to do my best to take my multivitamin every day and I will have to eat lots of dark green vegetables and lentils (sorry Rusty, that means dinner, too). I really don't want to have to delay my next treatment.

Anyway, today's treatment went as scheduled. It was pretty uneventful except for the woman who was on the other side of the curtain. She was listening to her TV very loudly. It was hella-annoying. But you can't tell a cancer patient to turn their TV down. No one would ever tell me to turn my TV down, and her cancer was worse than mine so I couldn't possibly tell her that all we could hear in our chemo room was her Walker, Texas Ranger. Eventually, I think her nurse turned it down because it was so loud she was having a hard time talking to her about her lunch. I don't get lunch. But don't worry, I went out to The Boynton with Mom and Rusty, so I'm not jealous. I felt bad that she was eating crappy hospital food and they didn't have any mayo for her turkey sandwich, so then I definitely wasn't gong to ask her to turn down her TV.

After lunch we came back home and I did some work in the garden, which really makes me happy. Except I don't now if the tomatoes I planted are gonna make it. They were pretty decrepit when I put them in this past weekend. I started them in my basement about 6-8 weeks ago, and then when I found out I had cancer I kind of neglected them (okay, maybe I was probably subconsciously trying to kill them...). I figured at this point Mother Nature could probably take better care of them than me (hell, even Charles Manson could take better care of them at this point) so I plopped them in the ground without doing the usual shock prevention routine. Then, today I planted a healthier set of peppers. Don't worry, it wasn't strenuous because I had already dug the holes last weekend. I'm sure they'll make it. One thing I learned from Martha is that seeds want to grow. They're engineered to live. So, by extension, plants are the same way. You just have to water them instead of leaving them in the basement to fend for themselves for weeks at a time.

I've decided that with all this planting and growing and sprouting and budding... spring is a wonderful time to get cancer :-) I took some pictures a few days ago of my gardens. This always makes me happy. So please indulge me and pretend to care. I don't have children that I photograph - these are as close as it gets! And plus this will force me to care for them and then go outside and take pictures of this in the future so you can see how they've grown.

The decrepit vegetables... The pink circles are cukes and the red ones are tomatoes. :-(

Closeup of a pear tree. One of my clients at my old job gave this to me.

Peonies. One of the plants and then a closeup. I <3 peonies.

My shade garden. Nearly ALL of these plants are donated. The Bleeding Hearts are from Sarah, the Columbine I bought, and then the Iris, Hostas, and Daffodils are from Dad.

My front garden. It's getting there. This will be fierce in another couple of months.

And I've saved the best for last. These are our hops (including a closeup). We have four different kinds, and we actually use them when we brew beer. Quite convenient, considering the recent hop shortage that is dramatically increasing the price of hops.

So, that's about it. I have some other pictures (don't worry, not of my garden) to post soon, so stay tuned (especially if you've taken a picture with me recently :-).

Oh, and BTW, if you don't understand the title, I'll clue you in. When you < 3 something, you love it (like :-) means smiley). I wouldn't say I loved chemo, but however it was I felt about, I unfeel it right about now. :-P