New Year's Update

First things first… an update on how I am doing. I am doing really quite well. I have just 4 radiation treatments left to go. The first 25 treatments were of the whole breast and now the last 8 treatments are what they refer to as “Boost” treatments. The Boost treatment concentrates on the area of the tumor bed (who knew tumor’s had beds? And no wonder why they chose to visit?) and uses electrons instead of protons… or maybe it is the other way around , I get confused! Once again, the staff at John Stoddard Cancer Center have outdone themselves! It is so nice to go in every day and be greeted with smiles! I do not know what I will do every day at 9:15 AM, but I am sure I will find something fun to do. After all, I did find a way to fill my time after chemo was over!

I am regaining my energy, my fingernails are in the process of recovering from the taxol and my hair is beginning to grow. Every day I look in the mirror and I think of Fuzzy Wuzzy the Bear. I should have John take a picture and send it out… maybe next week!

As we approached the end of the year 2008, I had cause to reflect on my life and just how blessed I am. For once in my life, or at least since I started to talk, I am at a loss for words in an effort to let everyone know just how much your love, prayers and support have lifted my spirits.

This all reminds me of the philosophy expressed in the movie, “Pay It Forward”, which was based on the concept of Random Acts of Kindness. Many may be skeptical of the impact of one act of kindness, trust me the impact is more powerful than you may realize. I would like to share with you my first experience as a recipient of such generosity. It is a well-known fact to those who know me well, that I tired to fly when I was 5 years olds. Needless to say, using my little Suzy Homemaker broom with the railing of our split level home for a take off platform, while well thought out did not work. Instead of amazing my family with my ability to fly, I surprised them by falling down 14 stairs. Lucky for me I had no broken bones, but I was bruised, unable to walk and therefore unable to go trick or treating. Remember this is back in the ‘olden’ days when Trick-or-Treating was a huge deal and most costumes were homemade. So my dear sweet mother asked everyone to come inside the house so I could admire their costumes (again this was back in the day when this was not an odd request). Two young boys were so sweet, when they realized that I could not go out for Trick-or-Treating, they let me choose anything I wanted from their bags! To this day, I remember choosing a Hershey’s Chocolate Bar from each boy. Amazing what an impact of such a simple, thoughtful act has had that I remember the example so clearly some 45+ years later! I bet those boys do not remember what they did, or that I send prayers their way often.

Any way, the list of those who have blessed my life has increased dramatically this year. It is my dearest wish to be able to express my gratitude by paying your generosity forward.