What to do differently…
Today is my seventh round of chemo. By all experience, I’m expecting the next three weeks to be pretty much the worst, because side effects are cumulative. The next one on September 10th will be my LAST, and therefore I predict more celebration than suffering. So I have decided that I have to approach this one differently to make it more bearable.
The bone and joint pain are horrible. So this round I’m going to head that off by trying acupuncture. The depression is worse though, so I’m doubling up my vitamin B shots. I’ve also decided that no matter how I’m feeling, I will do 20 minutes of yoga and/or go for a walk every day – whether it’s 500m or 5K. Please encourage me in this endeavour. We live at the top of a hill and it’s often a lot of work to get motivated to go.
The big thing for me is eliminating the negatives. Breathing more. Reacting less. Asking for help and actually ACCEPTING help. Drinking more water. Fighting less. Laughing more. Crying less. I want to enjoy these last ten days we have with Aidan before he leaves. And I want to enjoy the next ten days with Brendan before school starts.
I can’t do all this without all of you, my friends and family. Thank you for your encouragement. It means so much more than you can imagine.
Painting party this weekend if anyone is particularly good at it. I have three rooms to paint. (Better if you have your own brushes and rollers… Big thanks to my new Ingress friend Briden who’s hooking me up with paint!!) We also have gardening that needs doing for you outdoorsy types.
I’m very encouraged by the number of you have have taken my prompting and gone for a mammogram. As much as I love my nurses and doctors at the cancer agency I really don’t want to introduce you to any of them.
Thanks everyone. ?