by Marilyn B.
Read Marilyn's story and track her journey…
One of the silver linings I've come across during my illness is the outpouring of support from family, friends and colleagues. I've received many calls, cards and gifts, including flowers, plants, fruit basket, an organizing journal, a bag of books, trashy magazines and a sweet little bag of lucky charms (real ones, not the marshmallow kind). But the one that made me weep with gratitude was the gift that came from my neighborhood book club. I don't know how long the book club has been around, but I've been involved for probably eight or nine years. It's a great group of intelligent women who share similar values of family, home and a quest for knowledge.
I missed our last book club because that was the day my body tanked after the first chemo treatment. In my absence, the group came up with a novel idea to lift my spirits. Each of the women wrote down a few thoughts and feelings about me and my breast cancer—words of wisdom, words of concern, words of healing. They put their thoughts on little slips of paper and folded the little gems. Now here comes the fun part. They took a big jar and filled it with chocolate candies interspersed with their little notes. So now not only do I get to eat chocolate, I must eat chocolate to get to the next note. It's also brilliant because as long as I have the patience, it will take me quite a while to eat all the candies, leaving the notes to look forward to. I've read four notes so far, and I am resisting the urge to dig through and read all the rest.
I am overwhelmed by the love and support I have received through this process, and I fully acknowledge that I am blessed to have the people in my life who support me.
As for my progress, I have had a GREAT day! I went back to work on Monday, still a little wobbly, but by today I was feeling almost 100 percent. I had my mid-cycle checkup today. My blood work and vital signs look good. I love my port! Three vials of blood with the slightest pin prick. I had a long chat with the nurse practitioner about how we can fine-tune my next chemo cycle to reduce the risk of crashing.
I know life doesn't work out this way, but I hope that I never take a beautiful day for granted for as long as I live.