Letter 9: Rx - Relax

First of all, I hope those of you who are local were able to catch the beauty of solstice sunset with full moon last night.The garden here was bathed in an ethereal light. What Gerard Manley Hopkins might have called 'gloaming'. Taxol 3 (T3) done today. Check! No fuss and almost on schedule. Giving thanks for my PICC line which is making treatments seamless and painless. Nine more to go.... So far so good on side effects. Sticking to the management plan. Nothing painful. I'm definitely a bit less coordinated (trans: clumsy) but, is that new??

The one worrying piece is my white blood (neutrophils) which continue to slowly deflate like a party balloon. Lowest normal is 2.1. On the 'heavy dose first chemo', anything below 1.5 meant treatment had to be deferred. My counts by Taxol treatment have been 1.7; 1.6; and today, 1.4. I'll see the oncologist next week, and I expect she'll discuss this with me. Meanwhile in the hope that it will help...it’s back to

great(er) care to avoid infection (as to which, I remain hale);
resting more. (Really. S l o w e r....); and
- being calm (as to which, I'm well on track to resolving a couple of nagging little stressors that have pulled at me).

Rx, relax. Funny how my body is taking the lead here and insisting.

Angie is well. She's had a fitting adjustment for the Joint Active System (JAS), a traction type of brace, which she'll now use over the next

month to expand her lateral/outward range of motion. Still in physio. She's been at the pool and (gently) working with a personal trainer. Using a pulley to stretch. She can feel her muscles slowly but surely regaining some strength. After a lifetime of resistance, she had her first ever massage through the physio clinic – focused on unlocking her muscles. She survived and even enjoyed the process! Encouraging.