Sunday, June 22, 2014

The Long Way In...

As the crow flies, radiation takes the shortest route to the cancers ground zero. A triangulation of 3 beams meet in a well targeted rectangular perimeter around the tumor, joining forces to damage the cells' DNA, in hopes of starting a chain reaction where the malignant cells stop dividing.  The chemotherapy takes a little longer working its way into the blood and finding its way to areas where it may do the same thing.

This regiment of therapy for my specific situation takes about 6 weeks.  I coming to realize that this 6 weeks is just a blip in the time needed to establish body that stops the spread of cancer.

Working with cancer is like becoming fluent in a new language.  We start with the basics like daily pleasantries, then we perhaps takes some schooling, and then we live in an environment where that language is spoken.  And in time our fluency evolves, as does our accent.  Sometimes it takes years before we can put down the dictionary, and even then we are still learning new words and expressions every day.  At some point, we will look up and we are fluent, and we smile at ourselves stumbling over basic words a few years before.  This is assuming we didn't leave the environment where the language is spoken and the rust starts the creep in.

Its starting to sink in that no matter how effective medical treatment might be in the short term, its not the end of the journey, and in fact the journey is just beginning.  And its important to implement into my daily routine those activities that work to create balance, and that balance is a delicate measurement that is constantly changing and requires my full attention.

There is no quick fix.  Its a rest-of-life process!


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