After being exhausted all day yesterday I slept really hard last night getting 8 hours of sleep with 5+ hours of deep sleep - 2 hours more than my average for deep sleep.

My morning started off with a couple of early meetings before I had a bit of time to knock out work. I only had a few hours before having to leave for UCSF so tried using that time as efficiently as possible. 

I made it through my MRI without any issues. I was able to take mini naps during a few of the longer scans, though the longest scan is only seven minutes long. 

My scans showed that the surgical area continues to recess and I passed all of my neurological tests. Since everything has remained stable our neuro-oncologist said that we can adjust the MRIs from every 6 weeks to every 3 months which is fantastic news. 

With the scans moving to every 3 months it means that I will only need 2 more MRIs before the end of my chemo - one in November and then one when the chemo ends. 

I will still need ongoing MRIs for an indefinite period of time, going from every 6 weeks, as they have been, to every 3 weeks, as they will be now, then to every 6 months and so on. 

Following my neuro-oncology appointment I went downstairs to have my blood labs drawn. I told the phlebotomist that they always use the inner vein.  

Though I have had more blood work than I can count, she told me that she would prefer to take it from inside of my forearm.  

When I was in the hospital, the most painful areas that I had IVs were on the back of my hand since my shoulders were in slings.  

I found out today that inside the forearm is a tender and painful area to get stuck. Fortunately, it only lasted a couple of seconds but still, ouch. 

I hit Friday rush-hour traffic like a brick wall. It took me nearly 2 hours for a drive that is usually 1.25 hours. 

I was exhausted by the time I got home after a long day at UCSF and the long drive back home but I wanted to push myself to get to the gym. 

When I walked in to the gym the heat had been set, for some unknown reason, to 86 degrees on both thermostats. Couple that with the 101 degree temperature outside and I immediately started sweating.  

I tried pushing through my workout but my lack of energy mixed with the extreme heat in the gym made for a terrible workout. 

I was really looking forward to trying a new core and cardio workout that I found but after around 15 minutes I called it a day. I’m going to tackle it on Sunday which usually would be a rest day for me. 

When Laura came home we couldn’t decide what we wanted to do tonight - what we wanted to eat and whether to stay in or go out. 

To make our decision we wrote down all of the options, put them in a small bowl and drew a piece of paper. 

The option that was chosen was going to a local Italian restaurant for appetizers which turned out to be delicious and a fun way to spend Friday night.