From August 1, 2017

I finally caught the virus that everyone else in the house has been battling for the past two weeks and have never felt so terrible with just a cold! White blood cell count is the lowest at 7 to 10 days after chemo so I know that is part of it but I’m so ready to have energy again!! Spine consult went well but am on a strict no lifting anything over 10 pound restriction for 4 weeks after radiation. No spine surgery needed, my back is just weak from the cancer and the treatment. After those 4 weeks he said to focus on conditioning my core since I will now always be susceptible to back issues. It seems a bit counter intuitive but being given specifics AND something I can do about it makes me feel so much better. It was scary to see the scans and how much cancer is hanging out in my spine (or was before the chemo) but I’ve a timeline and can work on a plan to strengthen my muscles and tissue surrounding my vertebrae.

All of my clients and most of the remaining staff will transition this week. It’s bittersweet to see my firm and what I’ve built change in such a drastic way but a weight of stress and responsibility has also been lifted and I’m choosing to focus on that.

Thank you to every person who has continued to check in on me and include me in the normal stuff of life. It’s easy to forget that I’m still me even though I’m sick and while, as an introvert, I can get overwhelmed at times, it is so helpful to be treated as a person rather than a patient.