Quote of the Day: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
From Waking the Warrior Princess: Custom # 11 Take a whole-foods vitamin every day
Exercise Log- Stairmastered for 30 minutes, had to push through it- not my usual pace, but felt good after.
I think chemo treatment is like running a marathon- no one who ever experiences either says “Oh, that was easy (unless they’re superhuman or lying). I appreciate it when one acknowledges the difficulty of the task. My nurse, Melissa, looked at me yesterday after she had explained what to expect from chemo and explained: “It’s like a lesson in endurance” and that is just what a marathon is. I realized that I ran all those marathons, not to get a medal, or to see how many I could do in a year, or to add to my projected goal of 100 in my lifetime, but I ran them because I need the strength gained from them now. I remember those difficult miles where you had to just put one foot in front of the other and you had to keep going, no matter the suffering. Fortunately, you had people lining the course yelling and encouraging to continue, then you had this hope that no matter had badly it hurt, the finish line would eventually pass under your feet. There were times in the marathon where I would get these incredibly high moments of intense feelings of emotions that would make me cry, moments of joy and then moments of pain. And if you had trained enough and the suffering wasn’t too overwhelming, well then you were thinking about signing up for another in a matter of a few weeks. If you’ve never participated as a spectator of a marathon, you need to add that to your list because there are so many stories being played out and so many people who are rising above themselves to complete something extraordinary. It’s very rewarding.
Yesterday, around 4, the nausea hit and it felt more manageable if I didn’t move around much so lying on my back was the best way to go. I took a nausea pill @ 4 and then another @ 10 P.M. – second one causes drowsiness. That worked great. Drug name is Lorazepam and besides reducing nausea also is used for people w/ anxiety issues. I woke up in the night with this pleasant feeling so that must have been that component of the drug working. This morning I awoke w/ energy and felt ready to go- I am definitely a morning person. So far it seems that I’ll have periods of enough energy to function (albeit at a lower level) and then times when I need to lie down and gather up some strength. I went to the doctor for a shot this morning- this one is to help your bones w/ more white blood cells. Some people get really bad bone pain during chemo so they suggest taking Claritin (antihistimine) to relieve side-effects. For a girl who rarely indulges in any drug, I am way out of comfort zone. I have had bouts of hiccups 4 times at least today. What’s that about?
Kathy Cahoon brought over the most delicious soup, green salad stocked w/ all these great vegetables, and bread yesterday. It was such a delicious dinner. She has been such a huge support through all this. I so love and appreciate her. Mike said (and I don’t get a lot of compliments on my cooking from him) regarding the soup “That was the best soup!” so that tells it all! It’s hard to always be on the receiver side, which is where my life is now, but it was so nice to look forward to a yummy dinner, I tried to picture myself cutting up vegetables and preparing a meal and it was just too much. So thanks again, Kathy and Keven!
Thought I’d include a photo from warmer days: Sisters and Mom in Tahiti- from left to right, Shelly, Erin, Jen, Janet (Mom) Lynne and Joanie
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