Wow. Happy February; can't believe I haven't written. My back has been seriously fucked up. Over the weekend I bent the wrong way and what had been centralized as upper back pain, traveled down to my lower back. Thus semi-immobilizing me. I was freaking the fuck out on Friday because of the pain, thinking 'Oh, fuck, what if it's new Cancer growth and that's the pain?'

Then a nurse assigned to my case from Humana called; started describing the side effects to her—all of them are a result of adjusting to Herceptin. I'm still on Vicodin and sleep isn't fun, which is why I'm awake at this normal-people hour. We are all hoping that my bod adjusts to these side-effects before Monday, when my next Herceptin infusion is. I leave for NY Thursday, so even if I have to go see Chad three days in a row, I *will* be back pain free for Fashion week(end).

So when I went to Chad on Tuesday, he needled the fuck out of me. He put a THREE INCH long needle in my hip. Seriously, I saw it—he's never needed a needle that long on me. (And no, it doesn't hurt.)

Saturday night I've got to drive to meet my folks in Orlando, who are there for a legal conf, and smuggle Wally into the Ritz-Carlton so that he can go home to Jax with them on Sunday and stay while I'm in NY. You know, hoteliers—my life (and lots of other dog-owners' lives) would be a hell of a lot easier if small dogs were always allowed. Even for a fee. So annoying.

Schwartz didn't like hearing that I was in such pain that I needed more Vicodin—"He doesn't like hearing that you are in pain," said Juanita, one of his nurses. "Oh no, it's fine. I can deal. My body will adjust."

Because I know what Schwartz is thinking (compassionately): If she's in this much pain, maybe it's not the right treatment. Well, note to all: I'd rather be writhing in pain than lose my hair again. I can work through the pain. I can treat it with acupuncture and stretching and pills. I can NOT work through hair loss again. No, no no. Speaking of which, I was supposedly on Oribe's "list" for January and never heard from them. The hair is growing in shapely, but since I haven't had it trimmed since August, I may get a dead-end trim in NY. Though I am loathe to have anyone else's scissors in my hair.

So today I've got a Qi Gong/Tuina massage with Chad, which, if you are a massage head, is the most relaxing massage technique ever. And if you're in NYC, you'll see a million Chinese massage parlors advertising it on their shopfronts. I'm not sure which of those places are happy-ending free, but it's worth looking into. (If you are really interested in exploring acupuncture and Asian massage, check out the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, which Chad recs.) It's really reasonably priced; maybe I should schedule something in NY just in case. After my flight perhaps.

Anyway, that's about it. Almost halfway through editing Cancer Is the New Black, so will have it in hand for New York and my readers there. The funniest parts so far are the dialogue that Manny transcribed from our videotapes. Especially Dana's bits—her kids are going to read this in 10 years and realize what a potty mouth their mommy has. Kobi's definitely gonna learn some new curse words from Auntie Stephie.