And I see you're already trying to get on my good side by managing to schedule my first chemo for ... Friday. Wait a minute, that IS a pretty good trick!

One infusion per week for three weeks, then off a week, then rinse and repeat. For at least six months. Oy. // holds head in hands //

Okay, so. I didn't want to make another post until I actually had some news, and, if we look at the calendar, it's been approximately ... four weeks. For any real news.

( So here it is, under the cut ...  )

OKAY SO.

( Cut for the medical story so far ...  )

So that was my Friday. :-)

And okay, already I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt because today I got an appointment with the oncologist I want, this coming Friday. So FINALLY I can start getting some answers.

Otherwise ... I finished reading James Robert Parish's Fiasco: A History of Hollywood's Iconic Flops, which is a pretty interesting examination of how cost overruns, endless script rewrites, and out-of-control egos (mostly the latter) drove big films such as Ishtar, Waterworld, Battlefield: Earth, and (an oldie but a goodie) Cleopatra off a cliff. Lots of behind the scenes details (drunken stars, under-the-table deals, drugs (usually cocaine) being supplied to cast and crew) made this an entertaining read.

OK, so. The pneumonia thing? I kept not getting better and not getting better and not getting better, so I had a CT scan this morning. Guess what?

It wasn't pneumonia.*

So here we go again. I mean, what are you gonna do? You gotta keep putting one foot in front of the other.**


*For those who want it spelled out, it's lung cancer.
**For those who don't know, I had breast cancer eight years ago.

So, my advice is, if at all possible, try to avoid catching pneumonia. Holy shit this is such a bitch.

In other news ... big thundershowers rolled through at about 1 this afternoon, bringing good rain and some high winds. Apparently a lot of folks around us and in the DFW area lost power, and a crane in downtown Dallas came loose and fell onto the roof of an adjacent building.

Currently reading Alice Munro's Runaway: Stories. It's been a long time since I've read any Munro, and these stories are just wonderful. I also bought the new nonfiction book Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee, by Casey Cep. There was a very good review of it in the NY Times, and it sounds really interesting.

A month in which Nightdog remembers exactly how much she hates taking jamboree-size antibiotics. Sweet jumping Jesus.

On the other hand, I did have a nice moment of cognitive dissonance last night, when I had the most recent Mamma Mia! movie on in the background. I'd forgotten that Stellan Skarsgård was in it, and I was briefly puzzled to see an uncharacteristically relaxed Boris Shcherbina smiling and dancing. Heh.

I have pneumonia.

The treatment is levofloxacin; I've taken it at least once before (maybe twice). I remember it gave me weird dreams, so ... at least I've got that going for me?

I mean, seriously. It is 64 degrees right now (17.8 degrees Celsius) with a brisk north wind, and tonight it is supposed to drop to 49 (9.4 C).

Finished reading Lindy West's Shrill the other night. I liked it a lot, even though I did agree with one of the Goodreads reviewers that there were (a few) parts of the book that were sort of self-congratulatory (and very name-drop-y). I thought her stories were great, and I identified very strongly with some of her memories. Small child in elementary school, so painfully shy? I see you. Oh yes, I do see you. Two thumbs up, would very much recommend.

Currently reading Nathan Ballingrud's new collection of short stories, Wounds: Six Stories from the Border of Hell, and it's good. I will ALWAYS rec his first book, North American Lake Monsters: Stories, because by god it is brilliant.

What else? Still watching What We Do In the Shadows on FX. Also the Fosse/Verdon miniseries on FX, and I watched the first episode of the Chernobyl miniseries on HBO. Plus the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Waiting for the weather. Right now we're having light rain and thunder, but apparently there is Bad Stuff passing right to the west of us (and by Bad Stuff, I mean stuff like rotating wall clouds and rain-wrapped tornadoes). In other words, Texas in spring.

Also, today is my birthday (I am 61, kids). My sister sent me one of these, which is just as goofy as it looks (ours is a blue mosaic, not red). Mister Nightdog_barks and I immediately christened it the Disco Ball Feeder -- I took it outside, hung it from a tree branch, and put some corn and sunflower seed inside. About 20 minutes later, I glanced out the back door. A squirrel had found it. He was INSIDE THE FEEDER, happily munching away. LOLOLOL