It’s been one week since we formally declared war on Lymphoma and unleashed the fury into Cathy’s bloodstream in what has since become a microscopic re-inactment of  “Operation Shock and Awe.” All broadcasts coming from the front lines are positive, and I’m happy to report that this war has overwhelming bipartisan support (a relief given our current political climate, if you ask us).

Cathy went in for her one-week blood test today, and I don’t want to brag… actually, yes I do… so check out this progress report!

Typically, after starting chemo, your white blood cell counts are supposed to fall. Cathy’s were actually higher – across the board – than before she started!

As you can imagine, we’re very proud of her and we’ll be putting this up on the fridge. Well we would, but our fridge isn’t magnetic, so I guess I’m speaking metaphorically.

You may notice some Bear imagery around these parts, and if you’ve spoken with Cathy since this ordeal started, you’ve definitely heard some talk of Bears. Not the godforsaken football team though, no one wants to talk about them. She’s offically chosen the bear (specifically the sub-species of bear known as the Mamma Bear) as her spirit animal. No, the drugs aren’t causing delusional behavior. The image of a Bear is widely used based on the female bear’s devotion and protection of her cubs, and if you know Cathy, you know how true that is. Granted, I wouldn’t exactly classify two almost 30 year olds and a 26 year old as true cubs, but hey, any shared comparisons to THE GREATEST BASEBALL TEAM OF ALL TIME are fine with us.

It seems though that Cathy might actually be taking this Bear comparison thing literally. I present to the jury two pieces of evidence:

1. She has started engaging in behavior that is very uncharacteristic of Cathy: she has started taking naps! Shocking I know. But, here is definitive proof:

2. At her last weigh-in she gained 3 lbs. Again, when you’re on this sort of treatment it is expected that you lose weight. Side note: as a reader you may be thinking, did he really just publish specific information about a woman’s weight on the public Internet?!?!? Yes. Yes, I did. We’re shifting all sorts of paradigms here at Cathy’s Crusaders. #InternationalWomensDay

I’m not a doctor, but I suspect that #2 is caused by all of the delicious meals that people have been feeding Cathy recently. For anyone that has signed up to deliver meals, we want to offer a very sincere and heartfelt thank you! It’s a tremendous help to our family.

That’s it for now. Until next time: Bear Down!