This morning we woke to a beautiful blanket of snow covering Anchorage.  We weren't prepared.  Snowblower is in the shed, lawnmower is in the garage, and lots of other summer/winter items need to be swapped.  Our strategy, wait to see if it melts and then get a move on it.  Jared had a team 5k run this morning and Caleb had hockey practice.  Hockey doesn't stop for a little snow - six inches at our house.  

I'm so thankful to be at the halfway mark of this 12 weeks of chemo.  This past week was marked by a cold that moved into my chest, so I am taking antibiotics for 5 days.  My acupuncturist also did cupping to help with my chest and cough.  It seemed to help, but left some interesting marks on my back.  (No, it isn't my wedding dress - it is a cami I wore beneath my suit jacket.)   I'm still trying to eat foods to improve my qi and I took last week off from working out just to sleep.  It felt good, but now I think I'll try to thrown in a few walks or workouts this week.

My counts were all similar to last week's counts and seem to have stabilized a little low, but high enough to have my treatments.  James will continue giving me shots for three days after each chemo treatment to keep my counts up.  I was "dry as a bone" according to my oncology nurse and was given the bonus bag of fluids via IV.  It could be the result of hot flashes, loss of heat through my bald head, or just not drinking enough fluids.   

The day of chemo still pretty much wipes we out.  I'm thankful for wonderful friends who have brought by food on Thursday so we don't have to cook.  After sleeping all day, it has been a treat to wake up to a wonderful meal.  I haven't felt any nausea to speak of, however occasionally the smell of someone's food can turn my stomach.  The day following chemo has been difficult emotionally.  I'm not sure if it is the Paclitaxel or menopause, but it is typically a very sad day for me.  Each day following Friday improves.  

Although I probably work too much, I do love my job.  I was visiting classrooms this past week and stopped in a kindergarten class.  I was kneeling down talking to a little girl on my right about a picture she was drawing when the little boy on my left said, "Mrs. Huffman!  Your hair is growing!" Then he gave me a quick rub on the top of my head.  The little girl behind him asked if she could rub my head too - of course.