Life After Chemo

I left you hanging, along with my loose tooth. Sorry about that.

I had a terrific time with Emily in Claremont. The weather was a bit chilly, so no lounging out by the pool as I'd hoped. We did get in some hot tub time. Mostly, we just hung out. Emily and her boyfriend Joey were great about meeting my needs, from meeting me at the airport -- exhausted after my dental adventures -- and making do with not-very-good Thai takeout to studying quietly while I took my daily nap. (I made up for the takeout with better dinners out on subsequent nights.) Emily was particularly patient during the lost-phone episode, about which I needn't tell you more than it had fallen in the parking lot at Macy's and was recovered about an hour later from the department nearest to where my car was parked, but only after we'd called it multiple times and driven around to some other sites I'd visited.

One of the highlights of the trip was watching Emily rehearse her dancers in a piece she has choreographed for the fall show. I loved her sense of confidence in working with them, and with the accompanist. The rehearsal had a good flow to it, Emily knew what she wanted everyone to accomplish at each moment, and when moves didn't work well she listened to the dancers' suggestions and made adjustments. I really like the piece, in which four couples are negotiating their relationships -- some gay, some straight, some evolving, some deteriorating.

I'm back in Chicago now. My fuzzy-headed fatigue reminds me that technically I am just today finishing the last cycle of chemo. I don't actually expect everything to magically get better tomorrow, when chemo is officially over, but I certainly will celebrate not getting another dose! Instead I will get the remainder of my broken tooth pulled. Much more fun will be the evening trip to see my nephew Gaby in the musical RENT at Northwestern University!