This Old House

I am not talking about bricks and mortar, I am talking about flesh and blood.

This old house that we live in takes a beating. We take it for granted and sometimes abuse it. We neglect it and and ignore it. We don't mean too but we are often busy with life and forget that we live in this body. That it is our home for the rest of our lives.

Our bodies are amazing and I know this first hand. For the past few weeks my body has been ravaged by chemicals. An aggressive chemo is hard on the body. My symptoms escalated to the point where I was in bed 24 hours a day. My doctor chose to give me an extra week to recover and I slowly made my way back to me. 
The amazing part of all of this is that my body recovered on it's own. There was nothing I could do to help it along except maybe drink lots of water, but slowly over the past few days I have started to feel better. My body did not let me down. It is strong, it is healing and it brought me back to me, to feeling like myself, to feeling better, to awakening to a new day and knowing that I WILL be OK after this is all over. My body is there for me.

We live in this magnificent house that we often take for granted. We go through our days not even thinking about breathing or digesting or any of the hundreds of functions our body preforms without a thought from us! We seldom think about what is happening inside of us. We take it for granted.

If this journey through Cancer has taught me anything~it is to take care of me, take care of my body. It is an amazing home for my heart and soul. It is a place I awaken to every day. It is a sacred place, it hold my hopes and dreams and creativity. It is ours alone. We are responsible for it's upkeep and care.

Take time for your self each day. Take a moment to look around you, at the sky, the trees, breath the crisp Autumn air, feel the sun on your skin. Drink water, stretch, take a walk, get a massage, meditate, take some quiet time for you, get enough rest, your body rejuvenates with rest. Get a colonoscopy, a mammogram, a physical. Take care of your house, you will be living in it your whole life, respect it, care for it, accept it, love it! Your body does so much for you, give it some tender loving care and it will always be there for you.

I go to JEFF early tomorrow morning for my fourth infusion. I feel stronger than before because of an extra week off so I am hoping I will feel better this coming week. My next step is a PT scan to gauge how this chemo is working. This is always a stressful time for me ... kind of like a test. Will I pass? how will I do? I really don't have any idea but I do know that if these chemicals are strong enough to put me down they must be doing a job on this Cancer inside of me.

I am ever hopeful and I know I will do what I need to to get through this. I have so many people on this journey with me, it makes me stronger and helps me to get through all this and for that I thank each and every one of you.

If I can offer anything back to you it is to take care of yourself, don't wait for something to go wrong first. As the doctors always tell me "Don't chase the pain" get ahead of it. Make little adjustments to your life to make you happy, smile more, laugh, enjoy,tell someone you love them, forgive yourself for everything, stop and smell the roses. This is your life, right now, this moment in time, savor it and enjoy it. Love yourself and be kind. Your life is all around you. Notice it!

I send my love to you, enjoy this day!