Doing Battle, Week 74 & 75

I'll start with an update from present day and work my way back. I'm feeling great!! This past week I felt like I turned a corner. My energy was better, my head felt clearer, whatever pain I had was not pain but just discomfort. It's been very encouraging!

When we met with the radiologist, he ok'd me to taper off the meds I'd been on since the Urgent Care visit. They were necessary and certainly helped with what they were supposed to, but the side effects were a huge downside. Turns out tapering has its own issues which, at least for me, meant for several nights in a row I woke up around 1 AM, and was up for the day. Needless to say, that made for a whole new set of issues, but we got it figured out.

The other thing I began after the call with the doctor is exercise. I started out very slow because of physical limitations and not wanting to set myself back and then slowly starting adding more things. At least for me, exercise plays a vital role in my overall strength and wellness, both physically and mentally. As a side benefit, the movement will also help me deal with the nearly fifteen pounds I gained in the three weeks I was on steroids.

(Maybe to a fault) I'm not a worrier, in part because of my personality and in part because of the work I've done. As the Bible says, So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries.Today’s trouble is enough for today. Shaun and I are able to "box up" thoughts of cancer and put it high up on a shelf until we need to pull it back out. The only thing we've kept readily available is a heart of gratitude for this day that we have. 

Fifth and final treatment. The nurses tried to get me to ring the bell but I refused...it felt disrespectful to myself and others who have done many multiple weeks doing what I did in just five days. But still, it felt like a very happy thing to be walking out, being done and leaving New York.