Fast facts (if you don’t have time to read the full post): Chemo #14 is in the hole! We officially have TWO CHEMOS LEFT. Today’s chemo was full of weird little happenings. Oh and today is the day I get to share my surprise!! I guess you’ll have to read the full post to find out what it is. Reader bait!

TO THE LONG VERSION!

Today we learned having the cancer card doesn’t work during a fire drill at the cancer center and that the cancer card does work when a Rite Aid pharmacy worker is annoyed at you for not picking up your pills on time. The more you know!

Randomly one of my prescriptions was filled at the pharmacy on July 7. I kind of forgot about it and got the warning text about picking them up otherwise they would be returned. I went two nights ago to pick them up, but the drive thru was closed. I went today and the drive thru was closed again so I had to go inside. There was no line (luckily) but the tech was annoyed with me and was like asking me why I didn’t come get them on time and if I got my reminder texts. I told her I forgot because I am a cancer patient with chemo brain and her tone instantly changed to compassionate and kind. But like damn lady, sorry I didn’t come on time. Life is rough for me!

Today at chemo, we were informed that there would be a practice fire drill at 4 pm and I was in a pod that had the fire alarm in it. I was told because I was in active treatment that I didn’t have to do anything and could stay in my pod. Great, can’t wait to get my ears blown out! I didn’t have any headphones or earplugs, so my emotional support human grabbed the paper towels for us to put in our ears to help. Luckily when the alarm did go off, our alarm just blinked and didn’t scream at us. Our makeshift earplugs were not effective anyways so it all worked out. The alarm blared for 30 seconds or so, turned off, and then they closed the door to my pod for a bit and then reopened it once the drill was over. I guess cancer patients and staff all need fire drills, too.

The fire drill was not the only weird thing about chemo today. Of course Harry Porter and the Prisoner of Cancerban was being a little bitch again. I would fill up the test tubes with blood but then it like knew I wanted to be on time for the day and stopped giving blood for the actual test vials. Seriously? It took 45 minutes and I am sure over 30 port flushes. I was kind of stressed out so I forgot to count. I just really did not want to have my good day ruined by my port who is supposed to be my bestie. Because of my port, my whole infusion was delayed waiting on my numbers to come back from the lab.

Of course, my numbers are super low again. My chemo nurse told me she had bad news and handed me my lab report. Not only do I have a growth factor injection tomorrow, but I have another Saturday and I have to go to the hospital in Richland for that one. Ugh. I really need to take it easy this weekend and avoid crowds and randos. My nurse said my oncologist was frustrated and was like, “She is SO close.” I imagined her saying it and it was the cutest vision. My oncologist is a pretty straight forward person, so for her to cheer me on like that is a big deal. She wants me to push through. We don’t want to skip a chemo week because then I would need to make it up, making me finish in August and not on July 28 like planned. So, I am pushing through, taking the stomach shots like a fucking champ, and reminding myself that crying is cool. Excuse me as I mourn my midsection.

In less depressing news, we saw a therapy dog at chemo today named Murphy. He was a sweet lil pup and I was so grateful that we got a furry visitor. I love animals so much!

And the surprise has been revealed today: I was named one of ten Young Professionals of the Year by the Tri-Cities Journal of Business. It is a humbling honor and a reminder that I am more than my cancer diagnosis. I do have cancer. It is permanently etched into my life journey now and I mourn the person I was before cancer came through and fucked shit up. But other parts of me exist with that and I guess that also means I am a young little potato professional that was worth being showcased. You can read alllllll about it here if you want some light energetic reading before bed.

Speaking of bed, I need to go rest my little ojos (eyes.)

Today’s song lyrics of the day are brought to you by BROHUG.

“Be somebody, be somebody
The hater’s gonna like it when you’ll be somebody
Be somebody, be somebody
These bitches gonna like it when you’ll be somebody”

– Be Somebody, BROHUG