[jml]

Yowze, Flori!
Hope you're starting to feel better & sounds like you're on your way to getting back on your feet.

We endure SO MUCH with this disease!
It is hard to distinguish what "normal" is/was/can be.
I think we get so used to feeling puny & crummy and just soldier through all the crappy side effects.
Personally, I prefer not to call my docs for every complication, but this can be a blessing and a curse!
After finishing up 7 weeks of rads for a supraclav recurrences, I was feeling really crappy -
thought it was just "Radiation Syndrome" and bad, really bad Ragweed allergies!
Turns out, I was in ACUTE RENAL FAILURE -
the docs jokingly said, 'Wow, you look pretty darn good for being in Renal Failure'!
I ended up in the ER (while on a business trip), emergency surgery to stent my ureters/kidneys
to get them open & working again, then in ICU for 4 days b/c I diuresed 1500cc's of fluid in <1hr,
and b/c my electrolytes (including K+ & Na+)were so out of whack, I was having seizures.
Fortunately by the grace of God and the amazingly resilient human body, my kidneys bounced back,
almost like nothing happened. (I still have the stents which are an uncomfortable pain in the a**).

So I guess we all resolve to this new normal, but I still find myself a little surprised how good it feels to be off
treatment, and have a little laugh when I catch myself saying "Wow, is this what it feels like to be off chemo?"

Here's to a NEW normal in 2010 - still surviving & thriving~

Keep the Faith,

Jml