Wasn't it just March? Time flies. #CancerJourney

So, yeah, I've been incommunicado via e-mail and Facebook and online generally since July. Prior to that I had been off about a month. And it really does feel like this year has gone by in an eyeblink without me even noticing...

So, what have I been doing (other than worrying people)? I have been obsessively reading if I wasn't sleeping. I read all the Honorverse novels, most of the Grimspace books, several Vine books, a couple old "medical curiosities" books, a few short story anthologies, a few random short stories... When it comes time to update all that, it'll be a long day for me on Goodreads. And Shelfari. And LibraryThing. I have taken extensive notes on most of the books I've read, but I still may or may not actually write reviews for all of them, because damn... that's a lot of reviews to write.

Each fortnight I trundle myself off to my oncologist and have poison medication put into my veins through the port in my arm, then go to the hospital to be hooked up to a home infusion unit for a couple more days of chemical fun. Thank goodness I don't have some of the sorts of side effects that are mentioned by characters in the short story anthology Let's Scare Cancer to Death, which I read a couple weeks ago. I have not had a lot of nausea and zero throwing up, about which I am most happy because I really do hate throwing up. Since coming off the oxaliplatin I don't have problems with cold things, nor do I have muscle spasms, which is wonderful. Mostly my digestive system is out of balance, and I tend to be very tired, and wear out very quickly when I do much of anything. However, the treatment is helping, the tumors and liver lesions are shrinking, so we'll be continuing this treatment until a) it stops working and needs to be changed or b) the liver lesions are gone, at which point we can do surgery to remove the big tumors in my abdomen. I've regained all the weight I lost, so am back to where I was in 2012. Which, as it turns out, is too much, because it is negatively affecting the fit of my colostomy wafer. So now I have to try to lose some of that weight again. I just can't win! But such minor annoyances are nothing compared to what others have gone through, and what others ARE going through.

Speaking of Let's Scare Cancer to Death, it is a charity anthology. All monies raised will go to cancer research, so go ye forth and buy.

Meanwhile, know I am so grateful to my friends who have texted me on occasion to let me know they're thinking of me, and I found a lot of similar messages on Facebook as well. This means a lot to me. I am going to try to catch up with my e-mail, but likely I will be quiet for a long time while I'm doing that due to the volume of it. So, be patient with me! Meanwhile, know I love you all, and here's a big ol' hug for you!