next_to_normal | I yet live (Reply)

I know people tend to post updates "so you know I'm still alive lol" and don't really mean it seriously, but in my case, I feel like the concern might actually be warranted?

To wit: I have vomited ELEVEN TIMES since the last time I posted.

I joked on Twitter that my digestive system decided not to go to work on International Women's Day, so I wasn't going to, either. But really, I would prefer if we were both working, so get your shit together, you stupid colon.

I dropped out of the clinical trial, and thus upon exit racked up my ninth colonoscopy, the verdict of which was that some parts of my colon looked a little better, but the terminal ileum is still too swollen to get a scope through - which, incidentally, means it's also hard to get FOOD through, hence all the vomiting.

I started the latest new drug, Stelara, which is supposed to mumbledy mumbledy something and make me better. Who knows how it works. Or if it works. A lot of those vomits were this week (AFTER I started the Stelara). But it could take 8-12 weeks before I see any improvement, so. If this one doesn't work, it is probably surgery time, about which I have mixed feelings.

I am going home this weekend to pet-sit the Bad Cat (and the eleventy other cats) while my parents are on vacation. Chelsea is not coming, alas, so that ship remains on hold, but I trust they will become the Buffy/Spike of the feline world, they're just still in season 2.

Sidebar: HOW IS BUFFY 20 YEARS OLD? I FEEL SO OLD NOW, AND I ONLY DISCOVERED THE SHOW IN 2006.

Things I cooked that I did not later throw up:

Scallops Provencal - I only used half a pound of scallops, but didn't halve the sauce, because then I poured it over angel hair pasta and it was delicious. All of my scallop recipes are basically the same, but whatevs. I like scallops. I like pasta. I like garlicky, shalloty white wine sauces. WHERE IS THE WRONG?

Lemony Asparagus Risotto - So, when I was in the grocery store, I was like, "I need 5 cups of chicken broth. Should I buy one container that's 6 cups, or two containers of 4 cups?" Turned out they were the same price, so I went with two containers of 4. Good thing, because this recipe actually required EIGHT cups of broth before the rice was really cooked and softened enough. Other than that, it was pretty good, which is handy, since I have a lot of leftovers and am now pretty much exclusively eating rice and toast. (See above re: vomit.)

Sorry if you thought there'd be food here. It's actually just me and my cat. I maybe should've reordered this post. But I did get a cute haircut?

Stelara infusion. The nurses like to write notes to each other on my arm.

Cute haircut! (Also, is it me, or does my face look crazy thinner in this pic than the one right above it? LOL not sure if it's the hair or the angle or being three weeks longer off prednisone, but it's like, "Look I actually have a chin again!" Stupid prednisone made my face puffy, and it's finally going back to normal, and now I'm back on pred because of the vomiting. Booo.)