Last BIG chemo and Dennis Hopper

I'm almost afraid to write this but since there seems to be little chance of a delay...next Thursday should be my eighth and last BIG chemo! I don't know why I'm so excited. The week following my last two chemo cycles I wound up in the emergency room with complications, and after the last one I wound up in the hospital overnight...but at least it's the last session and I have some idea of what to expect during the weeks following. While it should be the last BIG chemo, I have six more months of weekly "little" chemo sessions (herceptin) until January and radiation treatments will probably begin in late April for seven weeks. Herceptin doesn't have the side effects of the BIG chemo nor does the radiation, other than the fatigue, and life will be a little more normal than it's been in the last six months. Did you see Dennis Hopper on the news yesterday? He received his star on the Hollywood "walk of fame," just in time from the looks of his condition (prostate cancer). Of course, treatment for prostate cancer makes men lose weight, while treatment for breast cancer makes women gain weight -- we just can't catch a break...I always loved Dennis Hopper -- he's such a renaissance man and a "bad boy" which I also love...how gutsy of him to make an appearance yesterday. I'm sure the outpouring of love and respect for his career was very therapeutic and uplifting. Loved to see Jack Nicholson there supporting his Easy Rider buddy -- but where was Peter Fonda? Come to think of it, where was Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, James Dean, Rock Hudson? Even if Dennis Hopper doesn't make it, he's outlived so many of his co-stars...and reinvented himself and revived his career many times...and how smart of him to take photos throughout his career on his movie sets, etc. What a legacy for his children and Hollywood... The LA Times said today that there will be a Dennis Hopper photo retrospective soon at LACMA or one of the museums that Eli Broad is involved with (he was there yesterday, too). It will be sad to see Dennis Hopper next year in the Oscar "memorial" segment, but it seems inevitable. But hey, we may see Jesse James there too if Sandra Bullock's fans get their hands on him...another bad boy who couldn't make the transition from bad girls to good girls AND wasn't smart enough to pick a bad girl who could keep her mouth shut. Talk about Sandra being hit on her "blind side." Working on my Gertrude Stein/Picasso thesis this weekend for my one class this semester. Talk about picking two people who are the most written about writer and artist in the world! You should see my bibliography. And egos...two of the greatest self-promoters in the history of art and literature. Happy spring everyone. It's supposed to be 80 degrees here today, Santa Ana winds, but rain is coming next week...everything in our yard is blooming, particularly the weeds, and I'm going outside to read about Gertrude's literary portraiture and enjoy the weather. Nice enough to go without a hat and show off my 3/4" of hair...