I hope that everyone is enjoying autumn as much as I am. Cory and I have basically covered almost every activity on the stereotypical New England to-do list:

1. Apple picking at Lyman Orchards in CT (otherwise known as “Pick your own damn apples” depending on how one interprets the tone of the ‘Pick your own apples’ signage)

2.) Navigating The Beatles themed corn maze (Which by the way we totally owned. I’m almost certain that there are 10 year old children still stuck in that thing.)

3.) Unapologetically shoving several apple cider donuts down our throats after waiting in line for nearly an hour (worth it.)

4.) Washing the aforementioned donuts down with apple cider

5.) Flannel on flannel on flannel

I think we are one hayride to a pumpkin patch away from being the all American masters of cute autumn stuff.

But our adventures don’t stop there…

Last weekend we hit the road and traveled to Pennsylvania to visit Cory’s family. I was meeting everyone for the first time. The visit was complete with a delicious home-cooked meal, bowling, and a four-way air hockey table. (I shit you not, this actually exists and it is amazing). Not that I needed any further confirmation, but after meeting Cory’s family I can see where his big heart and sense of humor comes from. I must admit that just as I never believed that anyone could love me for me living with cancer, I also had difficulty believing that anyone’s family could accept me with disease. I was wrong on both counts. I am sending out a huge thank-you to the Tysoe family for their warmth, support, and hospitality!

Aside from autumn adventures, I had dinner in Boston on Columbus day. This dinner was special for a few reasons. First, I was in Boston for a non-medical reason- GASP! Secondly, I was reuniting with some of my favorite RWU alums-Emily, and Berry. Lastly, and more importantly, we were there to celebrate Stacey and her send off to Southeast Asia for the next few months. Stacey is in for the adventure of a lifetime and I certainly admire her decision to stop and explore the world. I am wishing her the very best (and so help me Stacey if you do not bring me back a baby elephant, consider our friendship terminated.)

Work is reaching its busy season and my work day feels non-stop right now. On one hand the pace can be exhausting, but on the other hand I’m certainly not bored. It’s great to spend the majority of the day interacting with students and meeting most of my new freshmen. I have a few late nights in my future but it should calm down toward the end of November.

So as you can see I’m improving my adaption to the NEW-normal. Ever since the dose reduction I have been in a much better physical state. I still experience some side effects throughout the week but with less intensity. I am keeping up with my twice daily chemo regimen (even though the smell of the pills make me gag immediately and the alarm on my chemo palm pilot drives me to insanity). I will do so for as long as I need to as long as the drugs keep working. I am scheduled to have another CT scan and check up next month so we will see where I am at then.

Love and gratitude 🙂