Getting ready for round 5..

So today, in a few hours I will get the 5th dose of Taxol. So far so good.. not too many side effects.. a little GI problems.. hair loss.. and maybe a little peripheral neuropathy this weekend. They say that the side effects may accumulate as weeks go by, we'll see.
I have given 4 exams this week, another one tomorrow, and then 2 finals next week. A lot of grading to do, but I am not complaining. This semester despite of (or maybe because of) what happened, has been one of the best, I feel like I have connected to so many of my students. Unlike last semester I had very few days when I was not satisfied with how I delivered a lecture and I had a lot of fun in all classes that I taught. A few from the BIOl101 class have even said that they were changing their major to Biology, I am so proud. I LOVE biology and it makes me happy that at least some of my students share that passion..

Having said all of this, I am looking forward to the summer break. Clearing the house up from the junk we have managed to accumulate through years, putting together photo albums, doing some research, preparing to teach in the fall, going on short family trips, girl's birthday parties ...

Ever since the diagnosis I have been reading about how diet and lifestyle can effect your risk of getting cancer. And I have changed what I have been eating quite a bit:

1- I gave up sugar (that is added sugar, I do have a tiny piece of dark chocolate after dinner - that is my treat), so no sugar in tea, no candy, no deserts, etc...

2- minimized red meat consumption, the guidelines the nutritionist gave, allowed up to 500 g/week, but I am eating much less, most weeks none at all.

3- replaced white rice, white bread, etc. with whole grain everything,

4- I try to eat as much colorful veggies (and some fruit) as possible (it really helps that my mom is here and cooks yummy Turkish veggie dishes - I love it). Aaaand as the summer comes our garden should start producing veggies, so it will be so much fun to go out and eat directly from the plants.

now I am looking into juicing.. juicing of mostly veggies.. there is a lot to learn, but if any of you have tried it, or have opinions about it I would love to hear/read..

OK, gotta go.. papers to grade before walking to the infusion center..