Oh girl

I think I got this.

I drove myself to and from the hospital yesterday. No problemo. Early morning breakfast with my daughter, and then an appointment with a neuro onc. Two weeks ago I started getting this very brief and yet excruciating pain on the top of my head. It lasts seconds, is intermittent and unpredictable in onset, but is always in the exact same place. And it stops me in my tracks.

My first thought was an unusual presentation of shingles. But given that I am a cancer patient one must always rule out other possibilities. My exam demonstrated decreased sensitivity on the left side of my body, top to bottom. My brain MRI’s have been positive for multi infarcts for some time now (little strokes) and a slightly larger stroke is a possibility. As is–the highly unlikely–scenario that I have a tumor or some other structural impingement. This finding is seemingly unrelated to the pain on top of my head which could be trigeminal neuralgia or maybe even just some weird neuropathy. At any rate, I’ve not had a brain MRI for a good long time now and so one is scheduled for the 19th, when I receive my next chest CT scan. This will necessarily be with contrast, but evidently better contrast than before.

After that I was joined by my friend Jenny Ro, who you’ll hear more about later. I met her while I was preparing for my TED talk and we just immediately clicked. She was gracious enough to offer to be my chemo buddy yesterday. My son Peter joined us for a couple of hours as well, lending an almost festive feel to the affair.

First up was scan review, and it was as I expected. Overall progression. Not rampant but persistent. Alice said she was glad we’d decided to begin treatment.

And then, up to the eighth floor and infusion, where I was immediately recognized by a phlebotomist. That’s what happens when you’re a lifer. Some saline, ten minutes of carboplatin, more saline and then thirty minutes of pemetrexed. In and out.

It was necessary to stop at the pharmacy as I was out of ativan and needed some scrips for anti emetics as well. And some tortilla chips to go with the guac I’d stocked up on the day before. That, some cut fruit, and turmeric milk all went down nicely.

I slept like a baby, waking once in a cold sweat with tears all over my face. No idea why.

Today I am feeling a little bit more like I’ve been run over by a truck, but again, all manageable. Alice texted me and I said that if I continue to feel ok, then next time I’d like to consider ramping up the carbo dose. Of course, I have a scan prior to that, so if it’s not doing anything, I suppose there is no point. But my fervent hope is that it is.

This girl. This girl wants to live.