Two chemo cycles done, and so is this semester!

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Monday was my fourth infusion of ABVD, and that completed the second of six cycles. So far I don't feel any worse than I already have been, though for the purposes of the semester that was plenty enough.

First, the great news. I met with my oncologist two weeks ago, and she felt my neck for any signs of the tumor present there. She can't feel it at all now! What I had thought was a remnant of the tumor is actually my neck muscle, she says. I'm a lot more optimistic about my chances now; she has me slated for a second PET scan on the 30th of December, so I'll know for sure how much damage the chemo's done to the cancer overall after New Year's.

Last week I submitted the applications to the Cancer Center and the hospital business office for uncompensated care. Some good news and bad news on that; the Cancer Center rejected my application on the grounds that I need to provide different tax information than what they requested. The Business Office contacted me to let me know they require the same thing in my case, but gave me time to get it for them. They'll also send the completed paperwork over to the Cancer Center, so hopefully if the Business Office approves me for uncompensated care, so will the Cancer Center.

If not ... I will definitely have to launch a fundrasier for sure. At the rate these bills are piling up, if I were to pay all of this out of my own pocket I doubt I would have enough money to stay in college for another full-load semester.

Speaking of full-load semesters ... I took 16 credit hours this semester, spread amongst five classes (and one lab). You have to take 12 credit hours to be considered full-time. The past two weeks have had me overwhelmed by two final projects and six separate finals. Studying for them was hard, not just because of the final projects that needed finishing, but because the anti-nausea medicine they pump in me during each infusion makes me very tired and unable to stay awake.

I still don't know how I pulled it off, but I finished this semester with straight A's.

Oh, I didn't actually get straight A's on my finals, which is what amazes me that I still got A's overall. I guess my coursework grades (as well as the final projects) were high enough to keep me on the "A-side" of the line. My final exam scores range from a perfect 100 in Fundamentals of Multimedia Design to a 95 in Computer Graphic Design, an 89 in Western Civilization I and the lab final for General Biology, and an 86 in General Biology's lecture exam. (Not sure what I made in Instructional Design's final.)

Western Civ I's final was the hardest to study for, given that it required full-written responses to all questions (and two complete essays). I spent a whole day prepping for that one ... but I am so glad I switched to taking that course online though, because if I stayed in the lecture variant I would have had to write all that out by hand. It's just so much easier for me to put my thoughts to a monitor, and I can get it out much faster.

So that's how my first semester this new university wrapped up. Glad it's over with. Next semester I'm going to run a lighter load, though I did wind up adding a third course instead of the two I planned to take. One last "general education" course required by the university, and two lecture courses for my degree: Multimedia Production Techniques and 3D & Video Special Effects. I had to add the latter course because it's only offered once every three semesters. If I don't do it now I won't get to do it for a while, and they're going to be covering some valuable topics like camerawork that can really help me with my animation projects.

I'd been warned that this rotation thing happens at Cameron, but man. Oh well ... if it turns out I can't keep up with three courses, that general education course will be the first to go. I can always take that later, ugh.

So that's how things are wrapping up this year.  Cameron's Student Housing department still hasn't enacted that plan to move me over to another apartment in the Village, but I hope they do so before the week is out. It'll be a nice way to spend Christmas.

So ... that's all from me for now. Stay safe, guys!
© 2013 - 2024 trevmun
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Yorulla's avatar
I'm glad you got so good grades considering your "situation" at the moment :heart: you make us proud :)
ah, the camera-work sure is important in animations, hopefully it'll be usefull to you and teach ya like how ya need it/want it to ^^
still got hair on yer head? GOOD! lemme stroke it *pat pat* good rat-boy :3 now spend your christmas and new years all happily and cheerfully!