If you know me, you've heard this before so skip on ahead to paragraph 2. For everyone else, here we go. In my experience, when I begin to focus on the wrong things, life/God has a way of smacking me in the back of the head so I snap out of my idiocy and focus on what's important rather than what's petty. I could give you plenty of examples of this happening but I'll spare you. Trust me, it happens often!

Now that we are all back together, let's get to "The Smack". In the past few weeks I've found myself irritated if not slightly angry over a couple of things. Fatigue is an ongoing issue and my weight loss has plateaued/paused/gone on sabbatical. These two items, in particular, have been bothering me. A lot. That, along with the added joy of chemo-induced menopause, makes me a REAL joy to live with sometimes. Just when I was at the peak of my distress a couple of things happened.

1. I got to spend time with some people whom I adore. We haven't gotten to see each other much in the past year so it was extra special to get some time with them. A week ago Saturday I had lunch and did some plant shopping with a friend of 20+ years. This past weekend, we spent the weekend with my sister from another mister and had some fun with her family. Things like this remind me how blessed I am. Even with the big bucket of suck that was 2014, I'm still here and I am surrounded by some pretty lovely people. Love, hugs, laughs, family, fun and friendships are the important things in life and I'm blessed to have such wonderful people around me. That's what is important - not the number on the scale. The weight loss will start up again and, you know what, it's not the end of the world if it's slow going. My body is worn out so I gave it a break this weekend and I feel better for doing it. Rest and recovery is not a bad thing after 3 months of nonstop workouts.
   
2. I met a new treatment buddy and was reminded that even though I'm being treated for cancer, there are still people who are dealing with more ugly things than I am. She was a lovely lady. She was just diagnosed on March 20 and was there for second chemo session. We talked about hair loss and she told me that most of her hair fell out in one day. She was wearing a turban and said that a charity organization had given her some wigs but they gave her silver and she said she was not ready for that. She was too young for silver. I told her I had some wigs that were given to me that still had the tags on them and I would be happy to pass them on to her if she wanted them. She said she would love that! As we continued to talk, we finally got to the "what are you in for?" conversation. She told me that she had gone to the ER thinking she had pneumonia, doctors agreed and treated her for 3 weeks with no improvement. She went back to the ER and they ran some additional tests, including a CAT scan  and that's when they found the cancer. She said the doctor teared up when she walked in the room and had to give her the news. She had cancer in her lungs and several other places. In her conversation with me it was easier for her to list the organs which were NOT affected. On top of that, it's small cell lung cancer and that is some nasty stuff. After speaking with her I realized that if fatigue is all I have to deal with, then I shall suck it up and smile about it!