Leg 3 – FINALLY!!!
Okay Friends, here we go! Treatment is scheduled to begin July 6th, this Thursday. I can’t foresee any reason this will not happen at this point. This means my first chemo and my first radiation therapy sessions will begin. Chemo is once a week; the radiation is every weekday. This will continue for 5-6 weeks.
I praise God that I, Miss Worrywart, am surprisingly calm. I am trying to just be positive about it all. It is simply the means to an end. I desire the end, so I have to accept the means. God has been teaching me to take one day (or less!) at a time. I believe that will be key to getting through the difficult times ahead. I also think that ignorance might be bliss right now too!
The symptoms that I have had so far, are simply part of the disease. I am experiencing something like 8 out of the 10 of the symptoms I found on one website. Throughout the last many months (or longer) I have just pushed through, knowing I had to take care of my job, home, family and I did not have TIME to be sick! So, I refused to be. I told myself it was all nothing and ignored much of it. Since the diagnoses and my summer break from work, I have relaxed and let myself BE sick. The stress of the diagnoses and the pain of a loss also intensified it for a while. With acceptance and a little distance of time, I have begun feeling better.
Everyone is different, and there is no way to know how my body will react to these treatments. What I know from others’ experiences is that it will not be fun. I want to continue to write. This IS therapy for me. What I don’t know is how I feel about writing long posts. I may be silent for the duration of the chemo/radiation treatments. I may have wonderfully inspired things to write about – I just don’t know. But here is my plan: I have added another page to my website. If you look all the way on the top, on the far right, you will see a “Chemo Journal”. My plan is to write here on a somewhat daily basis. Entries may be only a sentence or two. I am doing this mostly for myself, but I have no problem with you eavesdropping on my days. So, if you want to keep in touch with how I’m doing, and how things are going I suggest you check there when you think about it. I will not be saying anything on Facebook about it after this entry. I will only mention actual blogposts on Facebook.
Bless you all for caring enough to stay in touch here. I appreciate both your prayers and the help of those who come along to offer practical help. I feel very blessed with my friends and family. I believe with all my heart that God has something wonderful planned through all of this.
