And so I came a blogging

The day after chemo found me much better rested, thanks to the Lorazepam pill I had taken the night before. It didn't appear nausea was going to be a problem for me, thank goodness, but I was definitely in need of the sleep benefit that it promised -- and apparently delivered.

I felt I was just a tad unsteady on my feet when I first got up. Not dizzy, just a little off balance, and it was a short-lived reaction. My knee felt supportive after two solid days of being on the steroids. It was a mask, and I knew it. The knee damage was still real. I just couldn't feel it.

So far, so good. Nothing on the list of possible and icky reactions was reaching out to grab me by the throat and shake me silly. I didn't have much of an appetite, but I ate small amounts anyway. I thought my face was a bit flushed, as was my neck, but it always is -- my neck, that is. Thyroid related, I imagine.

Jeff had made it to St. Louis before the snow slowed him down, but he was on schedule and making his way carefully toward Oklahoma City where he would spend Thursday night. I was relieved he was safe. He was relieved I was okay.

Linn stopped by for a short visit and she too thought my face looked a little ruddy. Like a wind burn.

I had taken the day off of work because I had no idea how I was going to feel post-chemo -- good, better, best? Bad, worse, really lousy? As it turned out, I probably would have been just fine going about my regular routine. So, I checked and responded to work email, did some laundry, read, napped and decided to do something my friends had been encouraging me to do since I began relating to them, via emails, my breast cancer saga. That night, I started my very first blog -- the one you are reading right now. The one thing that had delayed me in my blog creation was tagging it with a catchy name. I had asked my son Scott for a suggestion and he came right back at me with Breast Wishes. I liked it. I used it.

The weekend before I had written a short play for my church's kick-off dinner celebration of its 150-year anniversary. I hadn't written for awhile and that script barely whetted my creative appetite. I wanted more. The blog delivered. It was cathartic. It was fun for me. And it will serve as my memory when I look back and try to recall a year or more from now exactly what was happening to me at this point in time.

I search, usually unsuccessfully, for the reasons, predetermined or otherwise, things happen in this life -- be it mine or some stranger's. It's why I'll watch LOST through the very last episode, hoping for the big reveal, but enjoying the journey, the guessing, nevertheless. Perhaps someone who has recently been diagnosed and is struggling to get a handle on it all will stumble across, or be led to, my blog and discover they too can get through this. It's not a barricade, more like a detour. Sooner or later, we all get handed a challenge. And we deal with it.

If I can help, just reach out and tap me on my bloggin'.