Induction Week 3/4. First week of Class.

Started the week off with bone-marrow chemo on Monday. The same as the last two weeks: Daunorubicin, Vincristine, Dexamethasone. The team decided to do a half-dose on the Vincristine since the neuropathy improved in the hands, but it was still rather recent since the last full dose. It only takes 30 minutes to infuse the chemo, which is nice, and I'm used to the side-effects on these ones now, so anxiety is low in the infusion room. An interesting part of undergoing therapy, which I remember noticing three years ago, is the transition from fearful to comfortable with infusions.   Before the first round of a new drug, I would have a chat with the chemo pharmacist and usually leave feeling rather anxious since they pass over an info list with a huge list of possible complications and it's only human nature to zero-in on the rare occurrences. After gaining information from the doctor and the nurses, I would feel more at-ease, but since the human body is so complicated and each person is unique--who knows what could happen, right? It's always nicer to be going into an infusion knowing that you've had it before, so this first induction phase was good in this regard.  The ending will be good and bad: good to get done with the Vincristine and the Dex, but bad because consolodation will bring new drugs, and I don't know  how bad the side-effects will be yet.

This week passed smoothly. It's nice not having to go in for the Ommaya taps. I felt better than last week for this reason. I took advantage by staying pretty active: two day-hikes, an event dinner, golf, class, and internship-work.  It was more time out of the apartment then the last several weeks, and I liked that.  I didn't overdo it. I still took a few naps and slept-in a bit, but I didn't have time to get lazy either. A mind-thought that had been passing through my head all week is: "if you have to rush through life, rush slowly."  This last month, I have found myself always having little to-dos flying into my mind throughout the day, and it's easy for me to fall into a mind-space where I feel rushed to move from one-task to another, if not physically, at least mentally. I blame it mostly on the Dex, which has side-effects of scatter-brainedness.  I can't do as much in a day as I could a month ago, I don't have the stamina. But if I rush slowly, I can still do a lot.. I came across the phrase in "On the Trail of Genghis Khan," a piece of travel literature I'm reading about Tim Cope's horse ride from Mongolia to Hungary. The saying is supposedly a common one on the Steppe. And if a saying has survived for thousands of years, there's something behind it.

The day hikes this week were great! Sunday was going up Granite Peak with Joel, a friend from graduate school. Then on Thursday, I took advantage of not having class to go out to the North Cascades with my Dad, Bonnie, Peter, and Mike. We were in search of larch trees and boy did we hit the right time of year. The weather was gorgeous and the trees were poppin'.  Larch trees are native and are one of the few conifers to drop their leaves. They turn light green, then yellow, then orange before the needles fall. They grow at higher elevations, so they make you work for their display. Here are some pics from the Maple Pass Loop, an awesome loop right off Hwy 20.  The reds are dwarf huckleberry, the yellows are the larch trees. The Mtn behind my dad and I is Black Peak.