Well, another chemo cycle down. That is 8/12 if your keeping a running tally. This cycle was a tough one, I was up all night last night with nausea and tried hard not to vomit, but come 3 am chemo had won and I headed (walked very briskly!) to the bathroom. Mark was such a trooper, he popped right out of bed and followed me in, got a wet wash cloth and laid it on my neck… I don’t know how he does it, I really don’t. Just the sound of someone puking makes me want to do the same.

I feel like, in my spirit, I have been so icky lately. I have had a heavy feeling and I just want to shake it off. The last year has been such a whirlwind in my life, and I have tried so very hard to weather the storm with Christ at the stern, but honestly it has been tough. Really Tough. But then I am reminded of all the things I have to be thankful for. If you saw me on the street, you wouldn’t know that I have cancer (well, if I had hair). I don’t fit the “cancer patient” look very well. I fight for my independence (always have) and hold my own pretty well. When I had my last Onc appt, the check out lady asked what type of cancer I had. When I said Brain, she had a look of astonishment on her face… and replied “I dont have to tell you how many Brain cancer patients cant walk out of here” or something to that effect. That was a wake up call for me. I am sure that I will have many other “wake up calls” in the future, but that one really hit home for me. As much as I wanted to say “I really didn’t need to hear that”… I did need to hear it. I need to be thankful for what I have now instead of anticipating what lies ahead. That is so very hard for me to do… and I imagine I am not alone in that.

So today I am thankful for my health. All of it. That I can walk, and talk, and sing, and live. I am thankful that my hair is growing back (slowly, but surely) and that my husband finds humor in shaving it! I wouldn’t have chosen this path, but I am content with what it has brought me thus far.

When I look around me at other cancer survivors, I see people just like me. People who are beating the odds, people who have families and love life. People with children, moms and dads, siblings. We are the “Everyday Joe” who lives next door (I know, I have a neighbor named Joe who has colon cancer) just trying to live life for all it is worth.

We all have one thing in common.

We get a second chance at life

I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.
-Psalm 16:8-9

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