My sister and I drove back to Seattle yesterday, arriving in a storm of torrential rain. Last night, I guess I was tired from all the travel, because I slept deeply enough to dream vividly.

I’ve noticed that major life events are not immediately reflected in my dreams. For example, I was diagnosed with cancer back in early April, but this topic didn’t start showing up in my dreams until a few weeks ago. I recall a similar pattern with big events earlier in my life.

Last night’s dream was a weird one.

I’m currently in Spokane, WA at an AirBnB with my sister Katy. We’re here for a memorial service for our grandma, which will be happening later today.

Fortunately I did ok with the side effects stuff yesterday, as we drove over here. The main thing I continue to experience is cold sensitivity, so I’m minimizing time outside and making sure to bundle up.

Yesterday was a great day of 1:1 time with my sis. Bright, sunny weather throughout the drive across Washington state; scads of trees looking lovely with yellowing leaves, about to drop.

We stopped at Lunchbox Cafe, in Ellensburg. So good! I was a little worried about eating outside (it was pretty cold) but the sun — along with incredibly delicious tomato soup — kept me nice and toasty.

In other news, I got a Facebook message yesterday that meant a lot to me. It was from a friend from college who saw my “I have cancer” Facebook post in August, in which I urged all my contacts to get screened, and consider some other advice to stay healthy. She said:

Hi Jonathan! I just wanted to share that I finally got proactive about scheduling a colonoscopy because of your journey….Because of you I finally took action into my own hands and called the clinic directly to schedule an exam. I had 5 polyps removed.”

I’m so very happy to get an update like this!

Lot of good discussion with Katy last night; I talked about what a challenge it has been to try and intermittently work during the chemo process. For example; Wed-Thur this past week — days that I worked — were more challenging than I had anticipated. Although not as bad, side effects were still popping up here and there, and I believe these were exacerbated by work stress. I need to further scale back from work during the upcoming final phase of chemo, and I’m thinking through what this will look like.

I am tired, but I feel like an update is overdue. Quickly tapping this out on my phone and I’m going to skip adding links.

With my last chemo infusion (number 5) the side effects definitely hit me for longer. The new thing was cold sensitivity in my hands, for example, there were several days where I wasn’t able to open the refrigerator without wearing gloves. (The freezer was out of the question). This is a normal side effect from one of the chemo drugs in my 4-drug mix: Oxaliplatin. I also noticed the numbness and tingling while walking around outside, when the weather didn’t feel particularly cold (mid-50s). Annoying. At this point, that’s gone and I’m back to normal. But it does have me wondering about the upcoming final 3 infusions — how bad will things get? I have started to set expectations at my work that I may need to be out for more days over the coming month — and possibly just fully take the time off, until chemo is done. The intermittent back-and-forth stuff is very confusing ….

My care team got me all excited, during the last infusion consult — they said all those Nivestym shots I give myself in the belly, they don’t seem to be working, so they were going to “graduate” me to a more effective shot, Neulasta, that they could give just once every pump disconnect day. I really hate giving myself the shots in my belly … really, really hate it. So … I was so excited to be done with all that. But my insurance provider sadly denied coverage for Neulasta. So now instead, I have to do yet another night (now 8 after each infusion) of the Nivestym shots. 24 more of those to go…. Argggh…

I had my 5th chemo infusion this past Thursday (just 3 more to go!). The side effects have been more pronounced with this one. This is expected, as chemo is a cumulative process. More fatigue, and more of the mysterious bodily anxiety. Also, notable cold sensitivity in my hands: currently I’m wearing gloves while using the refrigerator, and completely avoiding the freezer.

I’m actually struggling with side effects as I write this post, which surprised me — earlier this evening I thought (hoped) I was done with all this, for this cycle.

While this meant that unfortunately I wasn’t able to actually walk in Saturday’s Seattle Walk to End Colon Cancer, I did stop by the opening kickoff at Gas Works Park, and I’m glad I did. I saw Jessica there, along with Melody from my work:

And I was totally surprised to be honored with an award! Well, not me – my fundraising team – we got the rookie of the year award for fundraising.

Good job team!!

A recent New York Times article highlighted the health benefits of apples — I wasn’t familiar with some of these:

• Apples contain a lot of healthy bacteria — apparently more so than many other fruits and vegetables. When you eat an apple, “some of those bacteria may become part of your microbiome.” And these healthy bacteria are very important: they have a powerful impact on our health, affecting everything from cancer risk, to weight, to mood.”
• Apples are rich in dietary fiber. This, I did know, but it’s a great reminder, as I’m all about fiber these days. Dietary fiber helps feed the aforementioned healthy bacteria.
• Apples can help maintain healthy cholesterol levels, due to the all pectin in them.
• Apples are good for blood pressure: “Certain polyphenols in apples, called flavonoids, are particularly good at stimulating the production of nitric oxide, a gas that flows through our blood vessels, causing them to dilate.”
• Apples can reduce chronic inflammation.