Annoyances and updates
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However, the good news is: Today was my last dose of Taxol. That’s the T in the TH of my current chemo regimen, and it’s the culprit in the peripheral neuropathy. So, whatever increase in side-effects I get in the coming week will be the last increase.  Then it’s just a question of will it go away? And if it does, how long will it take?
Meanwhile, the usual steroid crash I get after these is due, probably by tomorrow night, after which I will lie around like a plate of particularly uninteresting aspic until, oh, Saturday night. But also on the upside: I only got that massive dose of steroids because of the Taxol, and this was my last Taxol. Sooo … after this, also no more steroids or steroid crash. That will be nice.
Going forward, we just have the Herceptin every week (which does not knock me back as much as the Taxol), then surgery in May, and recovery, and soon after that, radiation therapy. Which will be a whole new adventure.
In other news: I missed the window for getting the ebook of The Language of Power completed before this week’s chemo and steroid crash. So, it’ll have to wait until Sunday earliest for any further progress; ditto with the non-kindle versions of the ebooks.
One thing that ate up time was my taxes!  While in theory it could have been simple, it was complicated by the fact that I actually did get some miniscule amount of money from Del Rey on the paperback versions of my books.  I do have the rights back, and they’ve stopped selling my works — but the delay in their accounting system meant that I was still owed money from before I disengaged from them, and this money was paid in 2013 and I had to include it in my income. Using the Profit or Loss from a Business 1040-C form. I wanted to do it right, and be beyond reproach for 2013, because 2014 is going to be crazy-time, what with income from various streams, and all sorts of business expenses, as well as the Day Job that provides my health insurance. It’ll be complicated.
And I had to get the taxes done before Chemo and steroid crash, because although I’ll probably be past the crash by Sunday, I might not be, given that it takes longer to recover each time, and it’s possible my down-time might extend into the tax-filing deadline. So I wanted to do the taxes while I still had a brain I could count on.
Unrelated info: Sabine and I have been watching Continuum on Netflix, which I quite enjoy. They put a lot of work and thought into the future-scenes, and the acting is pretty good, the storyline complex. Don’t let the synopsis fool you: “Cop from the future chasing terrorists.” Bleagh. Doesn’t cover it.
Also: I’m currently reading  The Little White Dove by JM Barrie (of Peter Pan fame).  This was a book I had stumbled upon ages ago when I was house-sitting in an old historical home, which had all sorts of fascinating old literature and scrapbooks lying around. I found the book hilarious and sweet at the same time, and I love the narrator. I just picked it up in a massive Kindle compilation of all of Barrie’s works, with cost next to nothing. I’m glad to see that I’m enjoying The Little White Dove as much as I did the first time.
