The game is afoot! I don't know what the malfunction with insurance was, but it seems to be fixed now. I called this morning to check in about chemo, and an hour later, the scheduler called (while I was showering, of course), and I am now off to the races. There is a class on Thursday, and an office visit with the oncologist Monday morning. Then I go down to the infusion room (I am not sure where it is in relation to the exam room I've been in a couple of times), and I start my first round of chemo. I have to go through the class to fully understand what constitutes a "round" for me, and I don't yet know which specific drugs they are using. I assume I'll get the drug names Monday morning when I talk to the oncologist. I've heard a lot of different versions of how long I get an infusion. Based on what I hear most often is that it will be one day of getting the drugs, and then weeks of side effects. There will be a chance of nausea, dizziness, fatigue, bad taste in my mouth, lack of appetite, vomiting, insomnia, mouth tenderness and possible sores, and/or hair loss. I don't know how many of those I will experience. Two or three would be bad enough. Some amount of all of them would be phenomenally unlucky. But the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, so I am still in it to win it.
I debuted my shorter hair at Rotary today. I tried to make it do something cute, and I eventually gave up on it and just pinned it with bobby pins and let the front fall out around my face. I got enough positive feedback from it that I'd consider keeping it shorter for a while once it grows back. I told a couple of people that I'm thinking of cutting it in stages over the next two weeks, to play with different styles until I lose it all. I can razor the back a little tighter to the base of my skull, leaving the front long, into the "I Need to Speak to a Manager" cut. You know the one I mean. The week after that, if I'm not too sensitive from chemo to be touched, I might go full Punk Pixie. As I told one of my realtor friends there, just watch. I'll cut all my hair off, and then not lose any of it with treatment.
There is a distinct difference between my Rotary and my grandfather's, and it's not just because we now allow women and tolerate people showing up to meetings in jeans (that would be me on both counts). Since we meet at a church, and they need the space each June for vacation bible study day camp, we go to Rotary Day Out that week. Our meetings are split up to different businesses around town, usually limited to 20 members in any one location. We get a tour of the facilities and are offered lunch. I've gone to the animal shelter, gluten-free bakery, and a well-known computer storage developer in the past. This year, the choices were very Colorado. Again there was a bakery (but not gluten free, so naturally I'll avoid that), the Brew-Hop Trolley (cool idea, but too much risk for gluten again), a business that I think was a 911 dispatch contractor (?), an organic hemp farm, and the newest cannabis dispensary in town. I looked at the sign up sheets, and said to myself, "Look. I'll be in my second week of chemo during this time. I'm going to the dispensary. I might even bring cash." As I signed up, this year's president of our chapter was standing next to me, and she said, "Oh, good. Thanks for signing up on that one, just like me." I was the third name on the list, and the youngest of the three by quite a bit. I wonder how long it will take other folks to fill out the slots. I don't think these folks are too shy to go if they're interested to learn about it.
I feel like one of my photos needs an extended caption. After Rotary I went to PetSmart, looking for crickets. They had none. Before I could get out the door, I stopped and read labels on pond additives. I discussed with the young woman who works in the aquatics area about what's safe to use to clear my pond water, knowing that Elsa can access it (now that the fence is down) and she drinks from it. We settled on a jar of beneficial bacteria and barley powder, that carried a surprisingly solid price tag of over 40 bucks (with tax). Following the conversation, I stopped at the Flower Bin on the way home, getting a water hyacinth and a water lettuce (5 bucks each), and a bottle of bacteria sans barley for 16. I'll be returning the PetSmart powder. The plants should work to eat up what's causing the algae to bloom, and they should propagate rapidly, especially the water hyacinth. I poured a capful of the liquid in the pond, and dropped both plants in. Two hours later, I went out to feed the dogs. I went to look at the pond while they ate. I saw the water lettuce, wedged up against the pump outflow. No sign of the hyacinth. I mean, NO sign. I looked under the flagstone that is shading the deep end. Nope. I looked around on the ground. Nope. I peered into the depths. I looked around the lawn farther away from the pond. The ONLY conclusion I can draw is that Elsa ate the entire thing, not leaving even a tiny root as evidence. I googled whether water hyacinth is edible. Thankfully, it is. Elsa didn't poison herself. But that hyperphagic jerk is making it really hard to clear my pond! We will have to put a fence back around it, tout suite.
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