As we sit poised on the brink of the new year, one of the more significant things that occurred this year, and that will follow me into 2011 is the breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. I'd say chemotherapy is the nastiest thing I've ever had to go through -- and at this point, I am halfway through the six every-three-week treatments. Yes, it is quite as horrible as you may have heard, with nausea being the foremost complaint. I do believe I've experienced most of the side effects one may, but I'll spare my blog a list.
I find that today, I feel more about blogging through images than through words, and so:
A few highlights from the journey so far........
Here I am, just before starting chemo.
Nice hair.
(^_^)
This shows my port catheter. It is in my chest, and a tube goes up my neck.
It is a good thing.
This is my meds bag.
Isn't it cute?
and pink?
It is important to be cute and pink when undergoing breast cancer treatment.
And so I wear hats. Lots and lots of hats! I am a mad hatter! Mad I have no hair and have to wear lots and lots of hats!
Puppy Love!
Puppy Love!
We had a Merry Christmas!
I count myself highly blessed, with a loving family, wonderful friends, and more resources than most.
When I wrote to my professors to tell them I would have to postpone my dissertation proposal defense, I said that I was sorry, but I had been "unrealistically optimistic."
One of my professors wrote back to tell me that this is a good thing, that she once heard Carol Anderson and Froma Walsh (two very eminent persons in our field) say that "a characteristic of people who win health battles is that they are 'unrealistically optimistic.'"
Happy New Year!!!
and may you be as unrealistically optimistic as you like and need to be!!
May 2011 be a wonderful year!
