Rest, Relaxtion and Back-To-School

Mom and I had a lovely time sitting and overlooking the Rogue River in Oregon near Gold Beach.  It was definitely a much needed respite.  There's nothing quite like listening to the herons call to one another, the water of the river drift by and the wind rustling in the trees to help soothe one's soul.  Two afternoons, we sat in our chairs with books we barely touched and just enjoyed the peace washing over us. 

The second round of chemo was fairly easy.  A little more gastro-intestinal issues and the energy level is definitely lower.   My hair has thinned but only to my own eyes is it really noticeable.  We shall see what my hairdresser says tomorrow.  Overall, I continue to be grateful that it's manageable and I can go on with my daily life fairly easily.

Back to work starts this Friday August 10th with our leadership team meeting.  Monday begins the staff meetings and three days of prep work for the new school year.  Students arrive on Thursday August 16.  As for my schedule with the doctor's recommendation, I met with my principal before leaving for my trip to Oregon.  I will work four days/week for first semester taking every Thursday off with the exception of the first day of school (chemo is at 4 p.m. that day).  My chemo infusions will remain on two consecutive Thursday's and my metastatic/Stage 4 group meets on the 2nd & 4th Thursdays of the month .  The Friday's after my IV chemo, I will also be off work so two weeks/month I will only work three days.  I do need the recovery day after the infusions as the pre-med steroid and the two IV drugs need some major fluids to flush them out.  Also, I'm usually bright red from the steroids and look like I've been over indulging in alcohol.  A retired teacher librarian has agreed to sub for me on those Thursday/Fridays so students will still have some expertise to assist them when I'm gone.

Something that a lot of people ask is "how do you do it?"  and one response is I just put "one foot in front of the other" like the song from Santa Claus is Coming to Town.  One of the verses says..."If you want to change your direction, if your time of life is at hand, well don't be the rule be the exception, a good way to start is to stand".  Read all the lyrics here, they really have an amazing message.  And you can always sing along with the video: