Photo: tanakawho, Flickr
Time may not heal all wounds, but in my case, it definitely blurs them. Let’s talk chemo, that horrible thing from which most of my breast cancer wounds developed.
For each of my four dose-dense infusions of adriamycin and cytoxan, my sister delivered lunch to the pink pretend-leather recliner I called home for hours at a time. There was a yummy gyro, a delish tuna sandwich, a great turkey sub, and I can’t remember the fourth one — which is exactly my point: I can’t remember. Time has erased my memory of the food that so repulsed me I couldn’t eat it for years. Years!
It’s been five years since my chemotherapy ended. And just now have I realized that the thought of these foods does not make me want to vomit. They actually sound pretty appetizing.
All it took was time. The same time that has allowed my hair to grow back, my surgery and port scars to fade, and my fear of recurrence to morph into something almost unrecognizable.
Yes, my wounds have healed — not completely and entirely, but mostly.
I love that.
Christine on 5/27/2010 at 11:47 am said:
Wow. I know you must get sick of people saying things like “I can’t even imagine”, but I can’t Jacki. You’re so brave and I’m so glad to have “met” you.
ncarreon on 5/30/2010 at 12:56 am said:
That’s great to hear from people like you who have recovered from chemo. It is a sad thing in life if you have undergone a chemo but once you overcome it, it’s another life to breath. Congratulations for rebounding from your chemo session. Now that it heals, make your life go forward.
Christine Ruby on 6/2/2010 at 12:43 pm said:
Thanks for posting my article about the Pink Podium donations. Here is an update to the story – I hope you can post this one too and maybe pass on the link to spread the word. This is a very sad story with a happy ending – there are people who are doing something to fix this problem!
http://www.examiner.com/x-11804-Health-Care-Examiner~y2010m5d14-Pink-Ghost-Foundation-seeks-to-raise-awareness-of-plight-of-minority-women-fighting-breast-cancer
Carla on 6/2/2010 at 1:16 pm said:
It’s hard to imagine when you’re going through it that the day will come when it will not be all you think about. Then one day you realize that you hadn’t scoured the net recently for news about breast cancer, and your tamoxifen tablet becomes just another pill amongst your daily multivitamins and supplements. Life is good!!