Football Season!

This is it, my favorite sports time of the year. I always get pumped for football season. I can't help it. Even though my team, Illinois, more often than not has a struggle of a season. I'm looking to football weekends to help carry me through to the end of chemo. Only 6 more cycles to go now!

One of my favorite places to be: at an Illinois football game in 2010.

This last cycle (#11) has been easier than the one before it. The first week, with both the irinotecan and temozolomide, was draining like before, but something changed in week #2. I had a surprising amount of energy during most of it, including a little shopping trip on Tuesday afternoon and a programming session on Wednesday afternoon. Eventually, of course, the chemo caught up to me, and I needed a major nap after I got disconnected on Friday.

I would say the turning point was a spontaneous trip I took a week ago with my mom to Williamsburg, a neighborhood in Brooklyn that has seen a recent influx of young people. It was definitely an interesting place to walk around. A number of the buildings looked worn down, but there were lots of young hipsters walking around, and street vendors peddling wares. I was reminded a bit of my Bay Area days, making the trip feel like a nice escape from Manhattan. And then I found this painted image of a ? block from Super Mario Brothers!

After the trip, I had a lot more energy. So I guess the moral of the story is to get out and do things even if you don't feel well. Sometimes it's more mental fatigue than physical.