September 23, 2012

Another great week of feeling healthy!  Had a fabulous week of workouts for the half marathon, and incorporated even more running into my training.  For a non-runner, that's huge!

But believe me, I don’t take ANY of these weeks for granted.  I’m fully aware that I could easily become a very sick person at any time.  It’s an odd feeling to know that you have Stage IV lymphoma in your body, but otherwise feel utterly well.  Sometimes it can be a challenge to keep this cancer thing an insignificant part of my life, rather than succumbing to a full-on freak-out!  But I just keep reminding myself that my body will dictate if and when the aforementioned freak-out should occur…..and as long as my body is telling me that I feel good, my mind will, too.

Despite feeling uber-healthy, that doesn’t mean I’ve slacked off on my info hoarding (thanks, Amanda, for that label!).  I’m still gathering and devouring web articles, reports, and books, and adding to an ever-expanding binder.

 

Currently on my Cancerland Book Club reading list.....

 

The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship has an amazing
collection of free publications and CDs in their Cancer Survival Toolbox program:
www.canceradvocacy.org

 

Also known as "Command Central," this binder contains every scan, report,
and biopsy result since I began this adventure in Cancerland.
 

 

"You're gonna need a bigger boat."  Yeh, Chief Brody?
I think we're gonna need a bigger BINDER.....

 

I’m also continuing to work in the garden.  Even though summer has technically ended, here in Southern California we’re entering the Santa Ana season, where hot, dry air blows west from the deserts.  We’ll continue to have summer-like weather throughout September, October, and sometimes into November.  Makes for a gloriously long gardening season!  

 

I’ve long believed that my backyard is my therapy, and it continues to be.  There’s something very healing about hands plying dirt, a shovel creating a hole for a new plant, and clippers trimming away old growth.  It’s all about nurturing, encouraging, blooming, thriving.  When I bought the house almost two years ago, there was nothing in the backyard, save for some sad weeds and a dreadful looking patchwork-painted fence. 

 

Before.....

 

Long therapy sessions have yielded my own peaceful, flourishing Shangri-la.

 

.....and after.

 

 

Where I do my best wine-sipping.
 

I’m a big advocate of planting trees (hmmmmm, must be the Park Ranger in me, right?!)  As the saying goes, “The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago.  The next best time is now.”  Since buying the house, I’ve planted nine trees in the backyard.  And I’ve named or dedicated all of them to significant people in my life.  I planted the latest one yesterday, a chitalpa tashkentensis.  

 

 

The backyard's newest addition.

 

Placing her into the ground and patting fresh, new soil around her roots, I named her the Warrior Tree, after all the Stage IV lymphoma warriors who are unable to muster the energy just to leave their beds, let alone venture outside into their gardens or train for a half marathon.  

 

I think the Warrior Tree likes her new home:  when I went out to see her this morning, her buds had bloomed overnight.