Ringing the Bell

Sweet friends!

We are approaching what I’ve dubbed: Fourth Week. Since March, I’ve followed the cycle of one week in the hospital and two weeks home, repeat by 6.

I’m currently in the two weeks at home recovering from my last chemo treatment. Next week I will not pack up my suitcase, bid farewell to Fred and George, and head back to the hospital. I rang that bell, and baby, that Fourth Week level is now unlocked and waiting for me!

In earnest, I’m still slightly back at March 16th. As full-on survival mode relaxes within my bones and muscles, I begin to feel what couldn’t be felt earlier in the journey lest I break down and stop moving forward. Gratefully, I’m sober and surrounded by support. There is soft pink and water blue space for those shelved feelings and deeper discoveries to exist, shape me, and then fade away.

So now, we wait until early September for my PET scan results. We hope the chemo made my body so inhospitable that The Stranger, with its greasy ponytail and bad breath, up and left (and for good).

In the meantime, below is a magical moment. I rang the bell on July 20th surrounded by nurses, doctors, and family. I felt high. I believe, as the video reveals, at one point I even try to take flight.

With love and a ring-a-ding-ding,
Nutmeg