Chemo Report #1
So nearly 2 weeks ago I had my first chemo infusion. It went a lot better than I thought. I was pretty tired for the first 2-3 days but then progressively better until the last few days I have actually felt nearly as good as before my surgery. In fact, felt so good I went to work everyday this week. So, I guess moral of the story is that chemo does not keep you from working.
Downsides, yes I am tired and I do have to rest sometimes. We are putting a sofa in my office to facilitate this. A major effort to move all the furniture around and I am grateful to everyone involved. Also, they give you steroids to keep your immune system up while you are doing chemo and unfortunately the high doses made me so ADHD I couldn't concentrate on anything for more than 5 minutes. I can't be sure having never tried it, but have to imagine it is akin to being on speed or something, while at the same time being drunk (tired). Kind of a weird feeling.
The most ironic thing of all of this is that this is the time that my research has chosen to take off. I just got tenure. we published our second very high impact paper this year. People have been really excited about it. I have been featured in several news articles and was recently on a podcast talking about this work. Two different companies have commercial interest in the technology. Apart from that, all of experiments seem to be coming together right now and data is flying out of my lab. All good things of course, but ironic that this is all happening while I am somewhat sidelined. I guess when you set up a good lab system, it really can run itself for awhile.
3 Comments:
Glad you're doing well... Thinking of you!
Best wishes for you and your health. Take care.
Hello!
Just wanted to say hi and thank you for your amazing blog. I'm a 3rd year undergraduate studying neuroscience in California, with hopes to pursue a career in academia. It's so inspiring to read about how you didn't give in to the dichotomy between this demanding career, and your family. The world has seen a lot of women who stay at home, and a lot of women who forgo family life to focus on their careers, but we haven't seen enough women who are striving to merge the two together. I admire you for that, as well as your motivation to do real research that makes a difference, instead of just going through the motions. Wishing the best for your health, and can't wait to continue reading your blog!
Tara
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