I'm a pisces, but I had cancer!

Sorry for the delay in posting- I have, in fact, been feeling progressively better, though I still tire pretty easily. It has been truly wonderful getting back into a normal-ish routine, even if only for a very short while. This routine has included everything from doing some consulting work, conducting an interview for my dissertation, prepping my course lectures for October, and romping around the city, including a three (!) borough day yesterday. Oh, and in this new normal, last week also included a few doctors and hospital visits, but nothing bad/out of the ordinary (cancer stuff) there. But I'm getting ahead of myself! Last week, in addition to heading up to campus a few times and going to a PhD student dinner at a professor's house, my mom and I got to see some old (as in, known me since I was born old) family friends, David and Debbie, who were visiting from Alaska for a wedding. After I was running late from a hospital visit and then a consulting meeting, we had a nic...

Yesterday, as I could barely move from my couch, I had to remind myself of something that I am learning through both cancer and my dissertation- that progress is not always linear. I'll preface my weekly walk-through by saying that my body has been an absolute obstacle to me this past week. It has needed much more rest than I am accustomed to, even throughout this treatment. The cumulative effects of chemo have finally proven to be real. I have finished something, but am still reckoning with its effects every day. There just don't seem to be too many clear bookends to cancer. Bref. The Wednesday after chemo, I went to see my plastic surgeon*. It is a bit of an overwhelming experience to have a nurse walk you through how you will wake up in a hospital bed, without a body part that you have had for 31 years. She jovially explained how surgical drains, which will be stitched to my sides, will need to be 'milked' and emptied of pooling fluids, staying there for 5 days to ...

Hello all, what was hopefully my last chemo ever is officially done! And thanks to friends and family, it was a LIT day. Chemo honestly dragged a bit, though it was made more tolerable by another round of Katz's for lunch.* As we finally closed out my last moments at the drip, we took some photos to commemorate the occasion. Here is the shot of my nearest and dearest, the ones who have been closest to me throughout this process and who've seen all the ups, downs, and in betweens. Collectively, they kept me company at every chemo and helped me vomit in a bucket and forced me to go on walks and cooked for me and drove me to appointments and made sure I was hydrated and held me when I felt so damn weak. Here they are, the exceptional Stahl-Golod clan: Love them all so damn much. I also very much love Sharnée, my chemo nurse who has kept me smiling throughout many infusions:   To make me feel all the more special, a bunch of my nurses came in to shower me with bub...

Just a quick blog post to give some updates and remind everyone that TOMORROW IS MY LAST CHEMO! Needless to say, I'm excited. Other than that looming on the horizon, this past week has been relatively chill. Working backwards, yesterday, G and I got some of the last summer tomatoes at the farmer's market, which we subsequently brought to his parents. Later, we got dinner with my parents, so it was a solid parent day all-around. On Friday, Brigid and Emily came over for dinner with my mom and I and a showing of Bachelor and Paradise*. Thursday, G and I went to grab dinner and see some swing in Williamsburg, and caught this sunset: Wednesday was the first day of the class that I'm co-teaching starting later on this semester, so I went up to Columbia to introduce myself to the students in my first day of school outfit: Tuesday was a chill day at home, so we did some grocery shopping and made dinner.** Now, I'm waiting for both my brothers to arrive, as t...

While I definitely hit a shitty lottery with getting cancer at such a young age, I can't overstate how much I won the absolute jackpot in terms of my friends and family. You all have been so great about reaching out,  checking in, showering me with insane gifts, and just keeping me busy and my mind off things these past few months. Example A- I showed up to chemo on Monday morning with Greg and my parents. We had an easy ride over, and then found a spot right in front of the infusion center. As we were driving up, I had noticed a woman walk into the center with a suitcase. I thought to myself, 'huh, that's a strange look for chemo.' As we got closer, though, I realized that I recognized the woman. The woman was Audrey. For those of you who don't know, Audrey and I did our master's at Sciences Po Paris together and became instant friends. As we like to tell people, we are both Franco-American, but when I speak French, I have an American accent, and when Audre...