Dentist clear, labs clear, green light for round three

Today was a two appointment day and both landed in the good news column.

First stop was Dr. Cooper at Dr. Richter''s office for mouth, teeth and gum X rays plus a physical exam to address that jawline bump. The headline: no sign of infection. The sensitivity I''ve been managing is confirmed to be a standard chemo side effect, not something brewing underneath. Yay! My spidey sense was right! The plan is to keep babying it with my new fancy electric tooth brush/water flosser, and a "magic mouthwash" prescription to keep everything as protected as possible heading into round three and beyond.

Leslie was my driver today, which made the whole day feel lighter. We grabbed a coffee and a breakfast sandwich between appointments, I got to snuggle her sweet pup Ivy, and I even snuck in a nap which she was on calls and before heading to my second appointment.

Stop two for the Northwest Cancer Center for labs and a meeting with Dr. Sidani. We are officially all clear for chemo round three on Wednesday. There are a few numbers we are watching closely going in, including platelets and hemoglobin, and one of the two key liver markers is showing some volatility then we’d like so we are keeping a careful eye on that as well. Nothing flashing red, just numbers worth tracking.

Tomorrow I am really hoping to get an oncology rehab schedule on the books. Waiting to confirm, and then we roll into Wednesday for round three as planned.

Feeling really grateful tonight. Grateful for Leslie, for a care team that Is thorough, for friends who are showing up in ways big and small. The "We Fight Together" wristbands going around the table say it all and that photo hit me so hard I mention it in my next post too which is a bit more “real” in terms of the toll this cancer is taking on my mental health. One message I received in the last few days really struck me. One of my Google colleagues really appreciated how this cancer has me searching for and savoring EVERY small joy I can find and he took a photo of some flowers to do the same. If there is one thing cancer taught me over 48 days now is that you find yourself thinking about dying as much as you do surviving. It makes you wonder about the pace you’ve been keeping, what you take for granted, what the hell we really work so hard for. If you don’t stop and savor the joyful things now, when will you? I have also very intentionally removed most negative media content from my brains diet. I don’t scroll, I stay off most social (but still love my dog and some inappropriate cursing memes. This is just my way, won’t work for everyone but I thought I’d share. It’s not sticking my head in the sand, it’s staying informed but not on repeat if that makes sense. End of rant.

Love to all of you. ❤️ 🥊