Catching Up

It has been awhile since I have blogged. So a couple of thoughts to catch up:

1. School has started in Scranton. It is incredibly weird to see my youngest, Gabe, walk out the door with a backpack on his shoulders. I don’t think I am ready for it – but am incredibly glad that he likes school and has a great teacher.
2. It has been more than a month since I finished radiation. I am still incredibly tired and in need of more naps in my life. The two side effects of radiation that I experienced are alopecia and fatigue. I can’t complain about either one of them. I lost about a third of my hair. The hope is that it will grow back in a couple of months. Or I will start shaving my head more frequently.
3. Since I lost a third of my hair (the left side of my head above my ear), I have gone to wearing headbands. They have worked out well – and are also multi-functional. When Emma has a soccer game – a headband helps keep her hair back and gives her extra energy for the game. When Nathan is sure he is not going to school because school is his enemy, a headband gives him extra strength to go to school.
4. I have done pulpit supply a couple of Sunday mornings in the month of August. On my first Sunday, I woke up and took my medicine. Then, when in the car, I forgot that I had taken my medicine, and sent Jenn back into the house to get more for me to take. I cannot tell you how tired I was that Sunday morning. It was rough. I wanted to record the sermon. I got my phone out, sat it on the pulpit and opened up the voice memo app. And then I forgot to turn the app on when I started preaching. I recorded the second sermon – which I will share sometime soon on this blog.
5. I was down at UPenn last week to endure more torture in the name of cancer treatment. I had an MRI and follow up appointments. We spoke with the oncologist about next steps (chemo). I will be starting chemo on Monday, September 23rd. The chemo regiment is six weeks long. It will be taking pills for a lot of it and then also driving to Philly for an infusion twice in the cycle. The hope is to go 3-4 cycles – but can also go as many as 6 cycles. Yahoo.
6. So – not only is this a blog about radiation and things surrounding that, but it will be a chemo blog as well. I will try my best to entertain with chemo brain!!! I will keep reflecting on the cancer journey and things like that – and also on whatever other things come to mind.