Adjustment

I hate it when my shrinky dink is right. She predicted that I would be going through a period of adjustment now that my schedule is not around my cancer treatment. It's not that there is a giant chasm, it is just different. Ugh.

Different has its own connotations -- one of them being I am on my own again. I don't have that other 50% of a relationship (doctor) to rely upon on a regular basis. The universe hates a void so it fills it. I am busier than ever with all kinds of activities. It is my new mantra to say yes to more things coming my way.

Tomorrow morning I am getting a second opinion on my thyroid at the cancer center. Yes, I know it is benign, but this is for the surgery portion that a doctor outside the center suggested. On Tuesday night, I will be attending another meeting for an Ovarian Cancer support group that meets once a month. I've volunteered for a couple of things just be to active. Thursday night will find me at a dining group for professional women my friend Possum has been a part of for years. I've turned down her invitations in the past. It is a part of me 1) expanding my net of acquaintances and friends or sphere of influence and 2) saying yes to more things. And then -- next weekend I will be in Jacksonville to spend the weekend with galpal Kathy...

I have missed writing terribly. Writing allows me to share what is on my mind with those who care to know. Things have not been easy lately even though I should be singing like Cinderella who just found out she is going to the ball and has all the forest animals sewing her a dress. The news of my remission should make me feel like that now, right? It is humbling and believe me I am ever so grateful. The pressure now is immense at times. I am dealing with it the best way how -- through humor.

Some news...my hair is slowly growing back! It is almost 1/2 of an inch on top. My brows are in, but my eyelashes are only half-way back. Other hairs are coming back, too. LOL

My shrinky dink has suggested ONE thing. For those who know me, it will send you laughing up and down the street. She didn't say in so many words, but I apparently need to be more demure. At odd moments I find myself chanting silently within, "I am practicing being demure" over and over again. It makes me want to tell her off.

Hugs,
Sprinkles xxoo

Adjustment

No Denial

Today was the worst day of my chemotherapy history. I woke up with my limbs feeling like they were on fire and movement felt like I was wading through gelatin. I was in pain and I was disoriented. I cried.

I looked at myself in the mirror thinking that today would be the first day I wouldn't put on make-up and eyelashes because of the pain. One long look and I said to myself, "Hell no!". I would do everything I could to dig within myself for the strength and I did.

My first order for the day after struggling to get dressed and made-up was to see my therapist. I had to tell her that I wasn't up to par with my health. She walked with me slowly and allowed me time to get situated. I felt disoriented and extremely exhausted. The session went well and, yes, I cried. We talked about the major hurts or key moments in my lift that affected me. It felt great to unburden myself...to let it all out. Emotional freedom is priceless. I was reticent about checking my make-up in the mirror after our session --- it still looked fabulous! No messy mascara or eyeliner painting me with raccoon eyes.

I drove to work instead of going home as a normal person would have. I just kept digging for Divine Strength. Being at work was difficult. I suffered from pain, exhaustion, dizziness, hot flashes, a buzzing in my brain when I didn't have dizziness and vision impairment akin to having flashbulbs going off in your face. I walked along walls with one of my hands hovering over them in case I lost my balance. Chewing my lunch was painful but I managed to finish. I could not deny I was feeling unwell and put up a brave or sunny face. At some point, I had to ask Michelle in front of me to get me water. I couldn't believe my body was reacting to the chemo coursing through my body this way. Thank God the afternoon progressed for the better before I picked up Tawny at her work at 5pm.

Why is it I am always surprised when I feel unwell? I guess I am used to being a force majeure where I just do things without thinking of limitations...when I am of my right or confident mind, that is. Truly -- it is always news to me when I wake up feeling extra unwell or feeling exhaustion just by walking from my car in the garage to arriving at my desk on the 8th floor of my building. My friends remind me that I am going through chemotherapy for Stage III Ovarian Cancer. It is not that I forget -- believe me! -- I am just not allowing it to run my life. I am not it and it is not me. My mind is a 'go' even if my body is protesting along the way. Some time very soon my body will be mine again.

Hugs,
Sprinkles

No Denial

Mindmeld Monday

Listen, my lovelies: I cannot wait to not take any of my aftercare chemo meds again in my life. We have one more round to go at the end of the month. Even though I did not work today at all, my brain was still in a fog. That didn't mean I was lazy -- I vacuumed, did five loads of laundry, cooked for myself, made some calls/appointments, cleaned the refrigerator a little, took two bags of trash out, and ran the dishwasher. I'm battling cancer -- what's your excuse? Ha.

I spent Saturday by myself just chillin' and managing my energy to rest from the chemo. On Sunday, my aunt and uncle drove me with them a couple hours away to my cousin Frankie and Brenda's house in Port Charlotte to spend time with more family members visiting. Counting all the adults and children, there were 17 of us. Most were in the pool playing. Several of us were enjoying the view of the water and the family in the pool. Grilled out with kebabs and other goodies. I ended up taking a nap on the couch for a spell.

On the way home from the festivities, I begged my aunt and uncle to take me to a quick grocery shopping trip so I could buy some almond milk, raspberries, oranges, vitamins, etc. since I won't be able to drive until Wednesday. I could cry to Tawny to take me earlier I suppose. Hee. This morning I made a smoothie using almond milk and fresh raspberries! Yummeeee.

Pardon me if this post is a little wacky. Like I said these meds make me crazy. There is mindmeld going on but I am not sure exactly how that is working. If you know, please clue me in.

Okay....I did have a breakthrough today. My spiritual adoptive sister in Canada gave me one part of the words I have been searching for during my cancer treatment. We have similarities in life things and that's all I can say. What I can say is that it came to me after reading her response to my specific query on my partial lack of emotional connection to cancer...that no matter how I dress things up in cancer or other unpleasant things in my past life, they were or are still unpleasant.

I cried uncontrollably for a good part of the morning and again in the early afternoon. While the tears fell, I could hear the pure hurt emanating and leaving me in my sobs. It didn't sound like me. It was alien like an animal left in the clearing in the woods by wolves who had taunted it by tearing bits of pieces of its flesh, but never killing it before leaving for real game. It was awful and cathartic. God -- I cannot wait to tell my shrinky dink this Thursday morning. My doctor will be happy to hear this.

SIGH...I want to write more, but my brain and these damn drugs are making it difficult. That's it for now. Thanks for your support. Your love around the world is helping me become well to the astonishment of many. Love does make this Asian Goddess of Love go around or at least sparkle!

Love,
Sprinkles xxoo

Mindmeld Monday

Lash Suicide

It is official. My eyelashes are committing suicide. Thanks to the compound effects of chemotherapy, I am now almost devoid of most of the hair on my body. Should I rejoice and think of it as shedding my coat for the summer?

You're probably wondering why I haven't posted. To be honest, I haven't been feeling well. It is taking me longer to recover and has progressed to an extra 7-8 days than normal recovery. Today was the first day I felt more like myself. It is disheartening but I know it is temporary. I just have to make it through two more chemo sessions next month.

I saw my shrinky dink last Tuesday and that time is helping me tremendously. The doctor gave me another assignment. I am to write down all the hurt I have experienced. Mulling through the pain is not the idea, but to write down incidents. I can handle that since our sessions have revealed that I am not dealing with the emotional side of cancer. We are tackling different areas of my life to get to that point...kinda working from the start to get to the present.

Another revealing thing is that I don't share deeper thoughts with my support team because I feel guilty for dumping on them. Sometimes when I talk to Angie, I can tell the things I talk about maybe too heavy for her to handle or maybe it is just me? I don't know. Don't get me started on Tawny -- I've hardly shared anything with her lately because I feel tremendous guilt for leaning on her when her health hasn't been stellar and the fact that she has already given so much right after my surgery. Kathy's been there to listen but I still don't share everything. I tend to keep things inside my head.

Sometimes I think that my support team all live too full lives to listen to things that may be bothering me now and they are too emotionally connected to me to have answers. Face it -- no one prepares for cancer. It is not subject matter that makes people happy. Now I have my shrinky dink and I can dump on her as well as get the answers I am in search of when we meet every two weeks.

I also saw my primary care doctor the same day for refills on my water pills, to get high blood pressure medication and to discuss what the cardiac surgeon saw on my CT scan in regards to my thyroid when I went to the emergency room last month. Everything was addressed but the thyroid because they didn't receive a copy of the scan in time. More blood was taken and the results have since come out clear. That's good. I will have to call this doctor again next week about the thyroid.

God... Talking about medication and cancer shit does get old. I can't help discuss them because they are what is going on in my life. The days that I no longer have to focus on them cannot come soon enough. Watching my hair grow after this summer will extend those thoughts a little longer I'm afraid.

For now my wig hides my bald head. My faux eyelashes and darker eyeliner keep my eyes visible. The make-up keeps me looking glamorous and healthy. My friend Dianne told me this evening how jealous she was at how fabulous I looked with my make-up and faux hair. I am doing everything I can to hide my anonymous pallor. Luckily, I haven't lost my humor about things. Crying about them seems like a waste of time. Someday this will all be a faraway dream.

Missed you,
Sprinkles xxoo

Lash Suicide

Shrinky Dink

Progressing in your own life means hitting certain milestones. Seeing a therapist, affectionately called 'shrinky dink', today was definitely a momentous milestone in my life. It means that I am ready to face the fears I have long held and newer ones since my cancer diagnosis. It also means that I am ready to get the guidance I need for a new life...

Sitting in the lobby waiting for my appointment made me a little anxious. I looked around the waiting room and once again didn't see anyone my age. Every patient was over 60 years old. What does this mean? Am I going through something earlier instead of later in my life? I don't know. When my doctor came to collect me, I was relieved to see that I felt immediate ease with her after our introductions.

We went through a questionnaire that I had completed when I arrived. She asked me more questions that would rule out me needing serious help that required being medicated to manage and maintain some sense of equilibrium. She then began to ask me questions where I grew up to now perhaps to get a sense of a time line. For some reason in my head I wanted to scream how there were serious stories in the gaps of time I gave her.

Yes, I cried when I expressed how tired inside I felt. She told me it was okay to have a "suck" day and to not have to qualify everything like "it could be worse or other people have it worse than me". She said I needed to feel more which I told her I didn't want to because that was way too painful. It is easier for me to intellectualize things so I can maintain order. This is something we're going to work on.

After I iterated what my goals were for our meeting, she said we would tackle things in chunks and see each other every two weeks. Did I mention I brought I piece of paper listing those goals as well as outlining my pressures and concerns, etc.? It was almost having my own syllabus for a class. My OCD is part of my infinite charm. It is, I say!

My shrinky dink gave me three assignments until our next meeting. Two of them were: Spending 20 minutes every other day writing down how I feel or anything on my mind. I am not to filter anything and no grammatical corrections, etc. The other is less self-monitoring. Overall, I felt our time together was productive.

The rest of the day at work was very busy. There is a tremendous amount of pressure to perform well right now. I have to wrap things up by Thursday since I have chemo day on Friday. Even though it will be a recovery weekend, I am very much looking forward to spending time with Kathy who will be taking me to my fourth chemo day as well as keep me company during another milestone weekend.

Love,
Sprinkles

Shrinky Dink