The hemoglobin goblin is still here. I had to have another bone marrow biopsy today. My doctor did it herself. At the end, she clutched the bio-bag containing a vial of my blood and said, "I don't know what other tests to run. I want to hold on to this in case I think of something." Inspiring, no? My wonderful nurse practitioner sat with me afterwards while I sobbed. Stupid hemoglobin goblin. I thought I told you to be gone?

Tonight I got to do something fun, and totally out of character: wear designer clothes! Despite the lidocaine still coursing through my system, and my back aching like hell, I decided to go through with attending a special event for CancerCare - a shopping night at the Soho boutique, Nicole Miller. Along with three other survivors, I was there to talk about my experience with cancer, and how CancerCare had helped me.

To start the evening, we were taken to NARS Cosmetics and had our make-up professionally done. The make-up artists were so lovely, starting off the session with face massages and making us feel utterly pampered and special.

Back at the boutique, the staff of Nicole Miller helped us pick out outfits and personally attended to each of us. It was so much fun to wear a dress I would never ever even think about trying on because it costs almost half my month's rent!

The guests arrived, and after some light refreshments and shopping, the four survivors told our stories about how CancerCare had helped us.

No matter how many cancer stories I hear, the thing that always gets me is how goddamn awful this disease is. It doesn't matter what kind of cancer it is, how long ago the treatment finished, or how great your support system is, cancer effing sucks. 

Tonight I was pampered and made to feel incredibly special. It was truly lovely, and a great way to ignore the goblin for a couple of hours. 

Thank you to utterly lovely staff at Nicole Miller, NARS Cosmetics, and CancerCare for making the evening possible!