Back around the corner

Right as I've found my energy and had a good three days in a row... here comes chemo... Le sigh.
Enjoyed getting to appointments, running errands, having special dinners, and even seeing a musical performance... I am happy with the outcome of the week... plus I enjoyed a few audiobooks and am in the middle of a fascinating one presently.
It is so hard to tell when I should keep my face mask on. I actually wore the wig for over 6 hours, that's the longest time for me yet. It is quite warm wearing a wig for so long. Glad I am able to do it though since soon enough I'll have to wear it for work.
Tomorrow- two dose day... shall see. Will see if I'm feeling strong afterwards enough to go see a movie... never know reactions.
PET scan is next Wednesday. Need to clarify how long it will take to get the results... Last time I had it in August it was a complete blur, just know it will take more than a few days. Last time I received a lovely bound booklet with an accompanying CD. Shall see how it goes.
Had to sort out all my vitamins, supplements, and medicine... happy to have it organized but it took over 30 minutes to sort it all out. I'm taking so many more pills nowadays.
I'm getting to the point where I'm anticipating the holiday that we preplanned/paid for back before diagnosis... I'm really staying positive about getting permission to go away for a little while... Bringing along the calendar tomorrow to see how to get extra chemo treatments in as needed.
I tried out a Yuen Method specialist on Thursday. It was an interesting process that I'm still thinking about. I received homework at the end- to watch for the next time I'm upset/angry and step back, take two long breaths and look at the situation as an observer, see how I react then. Hmm. Interesting. Know I've done that before but shall try it again.
Thanks for journeying with me, day by day... grateful for these "up" days and gearing up for whatever comes next...

Learning more

I've been quietly learning more these past few days.
Learned about green smoothies and mindfulness from a few books I'm reading.
Learning more about Qigong and really appreciating the practice. Something I'm trying to do daily versus just once a week during the class session.
I attended a workshop today about the Yuen method today, thought it was fascinating, shall be contemplating the practice over the next week. Seems like something I can do naturally- when having a negative thought, redirect to positive, spin it, connect with energy and let go of past issues that might be holding back growth and healing. There's much more to it than that... Here's a website that explains a little bit: http://www.yuen-hk.com/

I've also been watching a video series called "The Truth about Cancer"- every day another hour is released and has some interesting research and information shared. After each day's showing, the videos are pulled off and the next video is available, so I'm learning while available. The big things I've already understood but appreciated hearing again- immune system is what must be supported, drinking green tea and eating raspberries/blueberries are good for fighting cancer, sugar is pretty much poison to cancer patients... it feeds the cancer cells, so starve them.... I find it fascinating that at my oncologist's office there's candy out ready for patients, yikes. But I'm not of the mindset that natural fruit is a bad thing or that fresh vegetable/fruit juice combination could be bad... Focus on the liver and gut are the first things to resolve. This is what my nutritionist told me I needed to do months ago. I've been trying... Chemotherapy doesn't help things for sure with my immune system but I'm going to believe that what I'm doing is going to help, the combination of modern medicine and all the alternative supplements, dietary, mental, physical approaches I'm trying will help me survive and thrive...
http://thetruthaboutcancer.com/live/episode2.php
I appreciated that there were time-stamps for listening to specific people vs the whole hour- although I certainly watched the whole thing...

1 minute 58 seconds - Dr. Rashid Buttar
19 minutes 39 seconds - Bob Wright
36 minutes 15 seconds - Bob Wright again

Still drawing/coloring each day, really is cathartic to be honest, so happy I'm back to making this a habit. Also enjoying the gratitude journaling. I also love poetry, I receive a couple doses of poetry every day in my email inbox, this one today caught my attention... (I also received some poems from beautiful friends lately, appreciated them as well...)
Poem of the Day from the Poetry Foundation- Chemo Side Effects- Memory

Was a little more focused on quiet time and walking out an about than on writing these past few days. Enjoyed visiting a new bookstore with my husband. Trying out hats and scarves lately, haven't worn my wig for a week, but honestly, I want to get my scalp issues cleared up first...
My scalp is still driving me bananas and I do not believe that my oncologist knows what to prescribe for it... have tried his method for 4 days, will probably switch back to natural methods after I see him tomorrow. Tried to be respectful for a while but having a teen acne breakout on your scalp kinda sucks big time.
I'm back to chemo tomorrow and then my wonderful friend arrives the next day, so excited to see her and have quality time together. My husband and son are ready for their China adventure, they have their visas and they're reading to go, oh boy for them! I'm looking forward to the pictures and stories they'll have. Here's hoping some of the Mandarin my kiddo is learning at school might help them while on adventures.