Wednesday Evening...December 19th, 2007

A significant day.......

Today Linda and I met with the Community Education Coordinator for the St. Charles Cancer Treatment Center....we hadn't been aware of the support services and therapies offered at the Center. Actually I have known the Coordinator for many years through Wings and as a friend so building instant trust was there.

I was quickly aware of the emotional needs that I had been neglecting...being such a good caregiver....it all came out pretty fast and hard.....

I discovered (I think I already knew) that stress management and anxiety transformation are an important part of this journey....so we focused on "the relaxation response" and will practice that for the next few weeks....we will meet with our "coach " from time to time to see how we are doing....

We are also scheduled for Reiki sessions right after the first of the year...to promote calm and well being...and stimulating healing inner body chemicals.....

And I will be meeting with a hospital counselor to assist in "my journey"...

I have practiced breathing numerous times this day and been listening to a CD on "Relieving Stress" by Belleruth Naparstek...I actually went beyond that and went to my ITUNES to seek out some Wings songs of significant meaning to me...

So quite a day....I'm not getting an instant "fix"..it will take a long time..so I am practicing patience (A struggle for a "get it done" guy)....my body is pretty messed up by the imbalances of it all. Like I said, I "trust the process"...I'm "in".

Linda was right there every step of the way and is feeling pretty good for the "neutropenic week"...a bit weak but looking good in spite of it.....we are hoping for a good strong Christmas for her....

Thanks to all of you for your support...this is a "tough gig"...we didn't pick it out...Linda expressed her sadness of how happy and carefree people can be during these times and she has this burden...and then we talked again about Alex Zanardi, who in loosing his legs in an racing accident, saw the goodness and how fortunate he was to have survived and being able to do as much as he can even though he lost his legs...an inspiration..we hope some day to see him again..he was and is Linda's favorite driver of all times....

Anyway..."it is what it is" and we make the most of it and be better as a result of it.

Dave

PS...instead of "taking on the world" we all agreed that the "Healing Bridges" with biofeedback..is soemthing "down the line" in a month or two..I talked with them today and they support the route we are taking.