Starting to feel like myself again!

Hello friends! I hope that this update finds you well and enjoying 2022 so far. I really rounded a corner between Christmas and New Years and have been feeling much better. I still had to take it easy until the 6th of January when I was cleared to get back to regular activities (including jogging!) as my body allows. This has been revolutionary for me - my happiness has bounced back big time and I feel like my old self is coming back to me. That might sound strange, but not being physically able to do things that I love for so long really took a toll on me this year. 

We had a nice quiet holiday break together and spent Christmas and New Years Eve with a couple of friends. This year our culinary adventure was to make legit egg nog - it was good, but super thick! Almost custardy. For a holiday treat I would make it again, but I am not sure that it's our "thing" - might have to switch up to hot buttered rum next year. We did find our gingerbread cookie recipe this year though. I made a few batches of these guys as my energy and arms allowed. Some were happy, others looked out right creepy. But they tasted good either way!

Tuxedo Kitty also enjoyed the holidays, especially hiding under the tree and basking in it's glow. He didn't mess with the ornaments until the day we decided to take it down... hopefully he'll forget all about the ornaments so that it won't be a problem next year. 

My hair is so soft and curly right now! It's darker than I remember, sometimes with a tinge of red. But the curls are crazy! I had Napoleon Dynamite hair for a bit that I had to hide with a kerchief. On the 30th of December I went to the stylist and got a trim and it looks great! I feel like a flapper at times and have a great wave on top if I can tame the curls. Still figuring out how to style it correctly, but this is great to have some style again. 

We're getting out and about more these days! We went to the Lightscape art installation at the botanical gardens on New Years. It was beautiful and so much fun to have an adventure and to not hurt afterwards!

There are still some funny and frustrating side effects from chemo happening, specifically chemo brain! This is real! It's so strange that it's hitting now instead of during chemo. I have a lot of brain fog and will forget things in an instant. I am also mixing up dates and times and deep thoughts are tough to come by. I am hopeful that this is a passing thing, because it's frustrating and exhausting to work through this. Sticky notes, calendar reminders, and to-do lists are my best friends now. I am trying to implement life hacks to help me stay on top of the stuff I need and want to do. 

There are some chemo side effects we're tracking at the moment, but I am hopeful that in time they will fade and my body will continue to heal. Many of the other side effects I was struggling with during chemo have faded away - I no longer have neuropathy, food tastes wonderful again, and my nails are looking healthy. My body still aches, mostly in the evening after I have taken my anti-cancer med. That pain is manageable though and I hope that it stay stable at this level or diminishes. Only time will tell and I need to be on this med for 10-15 years, so here's to hoping!

I'll write more soon! Sending you our best from Texas!

Nicole and Tim