Chemotherapy Session #12: Final Taxol Treatment

Two wins in two weeks: my game is getting easier, or perhaps my ability of right timing is improving.  Last Wednesday was the second in a row, and much less uncomfortably so, of winning my trip-to-the-loo-less infusion.  My goal is a hat trick this week on my first A/C infusion (if I get to have treatment at all, I just received word that T.O. Central is closed today, under extreme winter conditions, and will know by 4pm if tomorrow's planned schedule is a go).  It may be too lofty a goal, as on the introduction of new medication they purposely slow down the infusion process to decrease the chance of adverse reactions.

Last Wednesday's round was super easy and delightful.  I was placed in a corner spot next to the windows again and it was a lovely, sunny day.  Kara, my attending nurse, known for her ability to bullseye the vein first time and to whisper even the most quick-to-faint patients, had me hooked up promptly after my doctor visit and I dreamily meditated with the soft sounds of the patient next to me lightly snoring (the kind of sweet snore that could be used in a cartoon soundtrack of a cuddly, wee animal sleeping and a leaf rising and falling with the current of airflow from their cute, tiny nose.)  It was heartwarming.  

My friend and former Unaliwear colleague, Sara, came to visit and was such an uplifting spirit to see!  We hadn't seen one another since well before Covid, and the last time I did see her was while she reclined at home on her couch with her leg in a big boot, unable to move well.  Time has certainly healed, and the ensuing years were easy on her as she looked even younger, fitter and happier than she was before her ankle injury.  She attributed this to starting Bikram yoga in earnest.  I gave her the high ten and was reminded the restorative and powerful health benefits yoga provides, eternally grateful that it found its way onto my path so many years ago.  Though my physical practice currently is much less rigorous, there isn't a day that passes that I'm not engaging in yogic breathing, spinal movements, and mentally/emotionally/spiritually contemplating upon Patanjali's eight limbs of yoga.   I am longing for the day I can enter a studio class again, however, and get back to my headstands and wall work.  Soon.

The A/C treatments happen every other week, so two more months of chemo to endure and soon after, God willing, life will return to my pre-cancer normal.