Weekend pre-chemo prep

As word gets out, I started to hear from a lot of friends and former athletes (much overlap in that Venn diagram) which is truly heartwarming. I'm going to have Kate Woll (katewoll AT gmail dot com) manage any meals and rides if it gets to that only because there have been so many, many kind offers. As my oncologist said with a smile, take advantage of it while you can, though she was probably referring to the warm blankets and massage offerings during chemo. Who am I to argue with that kind of logic?

This weekend was great and I feel like a got a huge amount of personal things done as I look forward to chemo part-1 tomorrow. Number one involved rowing. It was, as always, butterflies in the stomach, semi-nausea induced by watching my freshman race. Facing Delaware was nerve wracking after last year's near-drubbing, so it was very gratifying to see the 1F come out on top by open water. The whole squad decided last week to wear pink socks as their gesture of support - remarkably, it didn't make me cry even though it is the kind of thing that is right up my alley for the waterworks to begin. Regardless, it was moving. I also picked up my anti-nausea drugs for days 2-4 following chemo. The rest of Saturday was pretty quiet - yay!

On Sunday, the taper for the Boston Marathon officially began! I ran 12.5 miles on the treadmill (too much rain, wind, and cold for me outside) with my friend Amelia who is also training for it. I'll find out in a couple weeks if my oncologist will let me run, her worries involve me getting to run down and dehydrated which is really bad for the kidneys. Normally, she said she wouldn't allow it, but after meeting me said she would see how I tolerate the first round of chemo and possibly reconsider. Since I'm not running for time, maybe I can Jedi mind trick her into it.

To close out the weekend, I went to a USRowing referee clinic. It's always fun to catch up with my friends who also sport the light blue shirts and navy blazers, and keep the races running. And, somehow, I managed to squeeze in a quick haircut to test out a pixie-style do. I figured, literally, what is there to lose? Seemed like the best way to test out a new hairstyle given that in a few weeks, it will fall out anyway. The front is a little shorter than I would have wanted, but now I know and can get it right when it comes back.