a pretty uneventful week in Cancer Land. sunday afternoon was an early celebration of december birthdays for andy and his sister. so, a nice lunch with family, some chatting, some games. we lingered long enough to have leftovers for dinner there... a pretty relaxing day.

the rest of the week was pretty standard. worked monday through wednesday. thursday chemo, no new side effects, same old mild digestive issues over the weekend. there was some house cleaning happening on thursday and friday, in preparation for having people over for board games for andy's birthday weekend... but alas, it was not to be. poor guy woke up not feeling well, and it has continued throughout the day. we're taking it easy today and will do the same tomorrow. hey, at least we're all drinking ginger ale around here nowadays.

similar to last week, i thought i would share something slightly different, due to the lack of anything dramatic going on (not that i'm complaining). a couple of years ago, before any of this current mess started, i stumbled across a clip of  the standup comic, tig notaro. i don't remember which clip it was, but i remember enjoying her dry delivery and weird observations. down the internet and youtube rabbit hole i went, watching more clips and reading random articles about her. eventually, i found a write-up about her standup set at largo in 2012, in which she strode on stage and began her set with, "good evening, hello. i have cancer. how are you? is everybody having a good time? i have cancer." it was not, unfortunately, the beginning to an elaborate joke. just days after receiving a diagnosis of bilateral breast cancer, she forged ahead with a show and ended up giving an incredible standup performance. the audio of the show had been recorded, and she was persuaded to release it as an album (titled "Live" -- but pronounced with a short i, not a long i -- a command, not a description).

when i first heard the album, i found it hilarious and horrifying and brilliant and funny. i mean, when what you do for a living is basically share funny observations about the world, i guess it makes sense that the only way to cope is to work through it. the audience was right there with her. once they realized, no, this wasn't a joke, it sort of morphed into a half comedy show, half group therapy session. it was, as one audience member announced, "fucking amazing". totally agree, dude.

i dug out this album and put it on a continuous loop in my car soon after my own diagnosis. it was, and is, pretty cathartic. many of the issues she deals with on the album (there are so many!) actually have nothing to do with me. but her descriptions of cancer: the initial shock, biopsies, and even just announcing the diagnosis out loud, all ring true. i can probably credit some of my current attitude and outlook of my own experience to this comedy set, as ridiculous as that sounds. (though i can credit the idea of blogging about it, to my friend jana. hi, jana!). little did i know that a comedy album and a friend's blog, both about cancer, would end up being unintentional research for my own future. but all of these things are part of the reasons why i am blogging... it's helpful for me, it's informative for you, and to be honest, dealing with tragedy without humor would be even more tragic, in my opinion.

anyway. all that to say, here's a comedy set that resonates with me, and relates to this Cancer Land blog.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Kz-lV4t-3w&list=PLQQwrcUnrOndEvTJKT8Bu75y_S_lAZkOT

she may not be your cup of tea. that's okay. but perhaps some of you will enjoy.

next week is Week 17, which seems like a lot of weeks? but still chugging along. let's do this.