As I continue to move beyond the side effects of breast cancer chemo, I am able to see the light at the end of the long, long tunnel. (The light is still a long way off, but it is there. And that is a huge Silver Lining!). During this visualization, “Re” words keep popping into my mind, beginning with: Recovery.
When I finished with radiation and came home, I had no idea that there can be an unexpected side effect to surgery, chemo and radiation: post-treatment letdown. I know. I know. How dare I suggest it? Why on earth would I think it? Well, you know by now that I am hardly the girl to shy away from a difficult topic.
Summertime in Santa Barbara usually brings a marine layer of fog that sits over the coast and sometimes the entire community for most of the morning. This marine layer is formally known as marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL). It is a dense mass of cool, moist air which accumulates over the surface of large bodies of water (e.g., Pacific Ocean). It is caused by a temperature inversion, meaning that the air close to the water is colder, while warm air above the marine layer presses down on it, preventing it from dissipating. I sort of understand it. Though I’m hardly a marine expert. Or a meteorologist. Anyway, the marine layer brings daily fog. That’s what I know for sure. I’ve decided that this post-treatment period feels like being in the middle of the marine layer. There is a lack of visibility, some drizzle and a longing for sunshine. When people ask, I am a bit …
Today was another Silver Lined day over here on Recovery Road. Why? Well, because I went to get my first HAIRCUT. It’s been NINE months since my last one (well, not counting the head shave!).
My goal last October was to fully recover from surgery for FBC and to endure chemo and radiation therapy. My goal this October is to run a 1/2 Marathon. What a difference a year makes (Silver Lining!).
Now that I’m feeling stronger physically (Silver Lining: I ran 8 miles the other day and then played tennis!), it’s time to up the ante on my persistently pervasive chemo brain. Argh.
