Another infusion, My birthday, and Thinking about the summer
Today was another infusion day. I went alone because of the covid-19 regulations. I first met with Dr. Drake's post-doc Dr. Hawley to review symptoms and how things have been going. In general, things have been up and down-- particularly with my stomach issues and appetite. Although, we've had a week of improvement and will absolutely just enjoy that. Nothing particularly interesting came from this appointment and then the infusion itself was fine.
In other lovely news since my last update, I had my birthday (May 9th), which was lovely. I always love my birthday and try to celebrate as much as I can. Chris helped me have a delightful day by taking me out for a drive--I have not gone anywhere really in a long while, so it was nice to head toward New Paltz and take a look at what is up there. We also took a brief drive by a house on Zillow that we like. We are very casually looking at houses--it is a fun hobby--although we can't do anything about this interest because of covid-19...
Anyhow, after that excursion, we had a brief rest and then Chris arranged for several neighbors to come by and stand 6 feet apart in our driveway. They were offered Prosecco or hot chocolate because it was so cold that it snowed!!! They sang Happy Birthday, gave a toast, and then went home. It was a brief but incredibly meaningful gathering. It is hard to capture the emotion in having a group of people sing to you as you stand above them (I was on the deck). I felt the love and kindness and care that radiated from this group of neighbors. It was very touching.
After the serenade, we came inside and warmed up briefly before logging on to Zoom with many UVa friends and some family for a little trivia party created by my friends. The trivia topics included "pandemics," an "Amanda/Mandy" category, and a Jeopardy-style "Before & After" category with an Aussie twist (e.g. Creme de VioletCrumble!). It was fabulously done and super fun. I had an amazing time--it was so good to see so many sweet friends, and to have such care put into a personalized trivia game. I am so lucky. <3
I also should note that I was well set up with sweets between cookies from Beau & Lanie, mini-cupcakes from my Trivia host friends, and Chris had bought a lovely chocolate cake! I was a very happy girl-- and am still enjoying some of them!
While I had a lovely birthday, I have had some harder days recently with stomach stuff. We are working to figure out how to manage my upset stomach and low appetite because it is super important to have good nutrition with immunotherapy. This is a major priority now as I have lost a lot of weight (I am under 110lbs. Last year, at this time, I was nearly 30lbs heavier). In addition to working on my nutrition, I am trying to get out more for some exercise so that I maintain some muscle, and don't entirely decondition. Being stuck at home with the self-isolation orders has made it very challenging!
In looking at brighter things ahead, school ends in two weeks (only 7 Zoom Days left!) and then after a week of taking some time to settle, I will head to Virginia to see the family! I will stay with the Wisemans who are taking this covid-19 situation very seriously. It will be wonderful to have interaction, and it is to have something to look forward to! YAY!
I am not sure what the rest of summer will hold. Chris and I had originally hoped to take a trip up north to Canada's coast, but we are not sure if Canada will welcome us New Yorkers--or what we feel safe doing in general. We are still planning a family beach vacation to NC with the sibs--and we hope nothing gets in the way of that!
I continue to wonder about what the day-to-day summer will be like... it is hard when we are tentative about seeing people, going out to eat, shopping--and just being normal. We just had Memorial Day Weekend which is usually the kickoff to summer, filled with BBQs, adventures, travel, etc. Chris and I only left the house for him to run and me to walk once each day. While I enjoyed those hour-long outside jaunts, I crave more than a podcast and fresh air. I worry I will stumble into hours of scrolling meaningless internet instead of useful endeavors. I am also worried about not seeing people. I am an extrovert who is recharged by social interaction--it is so strange to be fearful of social interaction and crave it so deeply. I wish I trusted masks more.
It is a weird world we are living in right now.
In other lovely news since my last update, I had my birthday (May 9th), which was lovely. I always love my birthday and try to celebrate as much as I can. Chris helped me have a delightful day by taking me out for a drive--I have not gone anywhere really in a long while, so it was nice to head toward New Paltz and take a look at what is up there. We also took a brief drive by a house on Zillow that we like. We are very casually looking at houses--it is a fun hobby--although we can't do anything about this interest because of covid-19...
Anyhow, after that excursion, we had a brief rest and then Chris arranged for several neighbors to come by and stand 6 feet apart in our driveway. They were offered Prosecco or hot chocolate because it was so cold that it snowed!!! They sang Happy Birthday, gave a toast, and then went home. It was a brief but incredibly meaningful gathering. It is hard to capture the emotion in having a group of people sing to you as you stand above them (I was on the deck). I felt the love and kindness and care that radiated from this group of neighbors. It was very touching.
After the serenade, we came inside and warmed up briefly before logging on to Zoom with many UVa friends and some family for a little trivia party created by my friends. The trivia topics included "pandemics," an "Amanda/Mandy" category, and a Jeopardy-style "Before & After" category with an Aussie twist (e.g. Creme de VioletCrumble!). It was fabulously done and super fun. I had an amazing time--it was so good to see so many sweet friends, and to have such care put into a personalized trivia game. I am so lucky. <3
I also should note that I was well set up with sweets between cookies from Beau & Lanie, mini-cupcakes from my Trivia host friends, and Chris had bought a lovely chocolate cake! I was a very happy girl-- and am still enjoying some of them!
While I had a lovely birthday, I have had some harder days recently with stomach stuff. We are working to figure out how to manage my upset stomach and low appetite because it is super important to have good nutrition with immunotherapy. This is a major priority now as I have lost a lot of weight (I am under 110lbs. Last year, at this time, I was nearly 30lbs heavier). In addition to working on my nutrition, I am trying to get out more for some exercise so that I maintain some muscle, and don't entirely decondition. Being stuck at home with the self-isolation orders has made it very challenging!
In looking at brighter things ahead, school ends in two weeks (only 7 Zoom Days left!) and then after a week of taking some time to settle, I will head to Virginia to see the family! I will stay with the Wisemans who are taking this covid-19 situation very seriously. It will be wonderful to have interaction, and it is to have something to look forward to! YAY!
I am not sure what the rest of summer will hold. Chris and I had originally hoped to take a trip up north to Canada's coast, but we are not sure if Canada will welcome us New Yorkers--or what we feel safe doing in general. We are still planning a family beach vacation to NC with the sibs--and we hope nothing gets in the way of that!
I continue to wonder about what the day-to-day summer will be like... it is hard when we are tentative about seeing people, going out to eat, shopping--and just being normal. We just had Memorial Day Weekend which is usually the kickoff to summer, filled with BBQs, adventures, travel, etc. Chris and I only left the house for him to run and me to walk once each day. While I enjoyed those hour-long outside jaunts, I crave more than a podcast and fresh air. I worry I will stumble into hours of scrolling meaningless internet instead of useful endeavors. I am also worried about not seeing people. I am an extrovert who is recharged by social interaction--it is so strange to be fearful of social interaction and crave it so deeply. I wish I trusted masks more.
It is a weird world we are living in right now.
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