I'm down to the last two radiation treatments. That means I've completed 31 out of 33. I'm near the top of the mountain and the view is fantastic. But I am exhausted and am looking forward to just healing. The 33 treatments flew by a lot quicker than I thought it would and I can hardly believe I'm almost done. But I couldn't have done it without a lot of help - from family, friends - all of you who continue to think of me, pray for me, reach out to me. But I dedicate this post to the ladies I have met along this hard climb over this very tall and seemingly insurmountable mountain.
You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along." You must do the thing you think you cannot do. - Eleanor Roosevelt
Many of the women I met from the very first day I looked my horror in the face were nothing but kind and loving to me. I have had the pleasure and the privilege to meet the bravest and most loving women I could have ever dreamed existed. They are mothers - mine and my husband's who have been there to support me whenever I needed it, and when I didn't know I needed it. They are my girlfriends who never tire of telling me my incredibly short hair is adorable and bold; or who reach out and ask me to lunch, how I'm doing, or just to say they are thinking of me. They are the doctors who understood my fear, but were pragmatic and perfect in their expertise. They are the nurses at the breast center, who hugged me and said everything would be OK, and that I was in the best hands. They are the nurses in IV therapy who helped me through chemo and are still happy to see me when I visit, but rejoice that I'm not there for chemo anymore. They are the nurses at radiation oncology who watch my skin closely and said to me today that they're happy I'm almost done, but they're not ready to lose me yet, and they are the therapists who know just what music to play when I walk into the treatment room - who share stories of their children, grandchildren, their weekend, and share their lives with me.
But there is one set of ladies I would like to acknowledge especially... they are the women who have survived cancer. They have bravely faced cancer -in whatever form, beat it back, and have moved on. And yet they so generously give of themselves when someone like me is unfortunate enough to join the club no wants to be part of. They are also the lovely women I've met in the waiting room during my radiation treatments. You are there with your mothers, waiting for your husbands or fathers, or are there, like me, waiting to go into the treatment room every day. You keep the same routine I keep - waking up to come to the hospital, change, wait, lie on a table, and do it again - waiting patiently for the weekend. You are amazing and brave and the days went by faster because of you.
You all do the thing you think you cannot do... and you are all surviving and moving on. You are pure strength, love and grace.
You are Kath, Paula, Amy, Suzy, Auntie Jane, Auntie Ding, Mary, Cleo, Maria, and countless ladies I admire and draw strength from every day. I wish I could name you all, but know that I love you all.
