Bike Ride

We rode our mountain bikes deep into the woods to a secret spot where the raspberries grow. The bushes covered the sunny hillside and were heavy with fruit. We dropped our bikes to the ground and began picking and eating. The berries were sweet and tart at the same time. They were warm in the sun and you could taste sunshine and rain and the earth. We ate in silence with only the sound of birdsong and the breeze moving the trees. Wash the berries first, you might say? Well, no, this is a most organic and natural berry patch. Nothing to wash off. It sure was lovely and a great memory to savor when I'm recovering from surgery...

The post below was in Draft status. It's one month later and these side effects have pretty much all gone away - except for my face hair. For some reason, I kept losing eyelashes and eyebrows. Now, I have NO eyelashes, NO eyebrows, NO nose hair (TMI!). Oh well, it's good to have my energy back!

OK, here's my end-of-chemo inventory. After five months of chemotherapy,

Lashes

I saw in the mirror today that I have one eyelash left! One stubborn, determined eyelash on my right eye, upper lid. I seem to have continued losing eyelashes and eyebrows even after chemo stopped. I guess it takes a while for some of my components to get the message that the assault has ended. Oh, well, I feel much better and that's what counts.

I met my new, temporary favorite person last night. David and I were at the mall.

Last week, I did a PET/CT scan on a woman just about my age who very recently found out that she has breast cancer. Her sisters were with her, supporting her like my sister and friends do. They were all crying. She must have been a Stage 3, like me, because

I did something I shouldn't have done. I looked on the Web at photos of mastectomy results. It was bad, oh yeah! Scared myself but good! There were all these monster/mannish pics of women who must have had something gone wrong. So many lumps and folds and huge scars but nothing that looked anything like a female chest. Yeesh! David, of course, brought me back down to earth. He's such a sane person. I can also email my surgeon. She is very calm and strong too and can reassure me a bit.
My current plan is to buy some really cute AA-cup padded bras to wear until I can get reconstructed which could be 6 months after the double mastectomy next month. Victoria's Secret, here I come!

Well, there goes another lame-brain theory! While other people were getting

I am SO TIRED! I can't seem to get enough sleep. I nap almost every day and get enough sleep at night but I'm still tired. It's the