Cool Fall Day

This morning I went out to pick up the paper and felt a definite nip in the air. It had the brisk smell and feel of a beautifully classic fall day. Later it should be in the mid-70s. That's fall for you! Even in Orlando this morning it was in the low 60s and heading to the low 80s. These twenty degree temperature swings are the hallmark of fall and spring weather. I look forward to experiencing this in Orlando in the spring.

I decided to try half a cup of coffee this morning, which I have been eschewing for weeks. It was delicious. Yesterday I also tried an orange Popsicle, orange sugar-free jell-o, and an actual orange; all were equally delicious. Finally I tried tap water. Not exactly delicious, but not as bad as last week. So...what is this telling me? It seems that the weird tastes that I was experiencing last week after the chemo is gone. Perhaps the taste buds were only affected temporarily, but I won't be surprised if it changes again after the second session this coming Wednesday. Maybe it will last longer or settle into some permanency until the whole process is over at the end of January. No real way to know, I guess.

It's Sunday morning, which means Mark is busy making low-carb pancakes. He started doing this several years ago, and they are quite delicious. He makes each of us three pancakes, 190 calories for all three. I have them with three Morningstar veggie sausage links, 120 calories. It's a delicious, low-carb, low calorie, low fat breakfast. I'm going to have it with that other half of the cup of coffee. Hm, hm, good.

We have two main things to do today, and both will be fun. First, we are going to make a list of things that Mark needs to find in the house to bring back up here when he goes. I know it's over a week before he's leaving, but I want to think about this while my brain is still clear. Once I take that second chemotherapy infusion on Wednesday, I'm afraid I'll feel too out of it to think as clearly as I can right now. I also think that this list will just be a start today, and it will be the kind of thing that we'll add on to right up until he leaves on October 25. Second, we are going to a birthday party for a friend. He is turning 88!! Quite an achievement, especially when you consider that he has been battling cancer for several years, and there were times when he and his wife never expected him to see this birthday. It will be an honor to attend.

Well, there was a gap of about an hour between the last paragraph and this paragraph. I have eaten my delicious Sunday morning pancake breakfast. I love the way the house smells when pancakes have been cooked. It reminds me of my childhood when my grandmother made all sorts of delicious smells in the kitchen, often on a Sunday morning. We also made the first round of the list. Mostly it consists of winter coats, boots, sweaters, and other winter gear. UGH! These are things we did not expect to use again for a long while.

Arlene mentioned to me at shul yesterday that she could tell from the blog that I was feeling better. Something about the writing style and topics I choose alert her to my health status. I found that interesting because I didn't notice it at all. She's probably right! I hope that as chemo progresses I can still find the energy and mental acuity to write a coherent blog entry each day. Last night, I read the chapter on "chemo brain" in the book The Breast Cancer Husband. The author said that loss of mental acuity is a documented effect of chemotherapy. Women do not perform as well on cognitive tests during and after chemo than women not on chemotherapy. He warns husbands not to get angry when their wives don't remember things like before. Women often forget where they put objects or what her husband just told her to do or that she already told him yesterday to do something. Men should not take it personally or feel that she is not trying or listening. It is a recognized phenomenon. Gee, can't wait! If you read a blog someday in the future which seems to make no sense or covers things I just wrote about the day before, well, you'll know I'm a victim of "chemo brain." Cut me some slack!