Cancer log 110: I…

Cancer log 110: I *think* I am all prepped for the semester; there are big stacks of first-day syllabi and readings on my desk at work. Hooray! It was interesting being on campus and in the department bald -- a good test for what I want to do when school starts. Felt fine; got a couple extra looks and a few extra smiles crossing campus, but nothing big. I think I'm not going to bother with a scarf or hat for classes, though I may add one if it starts getting colder before my hair comes back in -- I was *freezing* in my office working for a few hours, because I forgot how hyper-air-conditioned it is, and didn't bring a cardigan. Rookie mistake!

I also think I may need to allocate a little extra time for talking to my colleagues, letting them know what's up, reassuring them that I'm fine -- I had some nice conversations today, which I'm actually quite glad of, but they do take time. It would be more efficient to e-mail the whole department: "Hey, you may not have heard that I was diagnosed with breast cancer in February. I've been undergoing treatment since, and while it was a rough summer, I'm doing very well now, and the prognosis is very positive. I should be done with treatment by the end of November." But probably what will actually happen is that I'll just show up to the start of semester department party and talk to some people and the news will percolate outwards, because that's how this sort of thing seems to work. :-)

8/11 update: Amended to note that at the recommendation of several academic friends, I ended up sending a note to the department after all. Hopefully, it'll help ease the social awkwardness of such things. :-)