Banana trees and bingo dabbers

Well, last time I wrote I had just finished #4 of my 25 radiation treatments. At this point, I have only 4 to go, after having finished 21!! Yay!!! I actually am beginning to see the light at the end of this long tunnel of operations and treatments.

When I was beginning this journey my Aunt Violet sent me a bingo dabber, that had once belonged to my grandmother (who loved to play bingo) and she told me to mark off the days on my calendar with it till I get to the end of my treatments. Each day dabbed would be a day closer to the end and to healing. That is what I have been doing since the beginning, many months ago.

My creative friend Karey had a similar idea for radiation countdown. She had my daughter and her daughter make me bunches of cardboard bananas which we stuck on a banana tree. She was the one who gave me the monkey with the slogan "Peel strong" at the very beginning. So we're in the same monkey theme here! Rachel even had fun drawing a monkey climbing the tree. Every day when I would come back from my treatments I would pick another banana, noticing them becoming fewer and fewer as time has gone by.

        

                                                             
It has been tiring, all the driving back and forth and taking up so much of my time. Having to go there mostly 5 times a week and then needing to nap etc has really cut into my every day chores and responsabilities. (That's why this blog has been neglected). It has not been easy for me to once again accept my weakness and let things go. I am definitely on a learning curve here! I know that once the treatments are over, my body will continue to live out the effects of these and that I won't jump back into life with the same energy as before. It will take time to fully recover, physically and emotionnally. This is not easy for me to accept. I'm the type who wants to turn the page as quickly as possible and get on with the next chapter. However God is teaching me to be willing to linger, to not be so much in a hurry to get over it and get on with life. There are important lessons to be learned in the process and especially in those moments of weakness, when we can only truly cry out to Him for comfort and help.

So that's where I am at the present, nearing the end of treatments and the beginning of a new normal, whatever that may entail. I do plan to continue to write as I feel inspired, because the journey continues. If  I decide to end this blog I will advise. Hey, notice the hair coming back in?! A lovely salt and pepper shade!