Locked, Loaded, and Ready for Chemo

After a great weekend, it's that time again: the Sunday night before chemo. Round 11 starts tomorrow, and I've been prepping all week for it.

So what does prep look like? There's no actual, doctor-mandated preparation, but it's something I like to do on my "off-chemo" weeks to get pumped up and ready for treatment.

The first part includes eating as much healthy food as possible. Green juice, veggies, water, herbal tea, beans, brown rice, almonds. I try to load up in my off-chemo week just in case my appetite during chemo week is less than stellar. Generally, I let myself eat anything I want during chemo weeks -- except animal protein or alcohol, of course. I try to offset the random chemo week craving for sweet potato fries with wheatgrass shots the week before.

The second component is increased exercise. This morning, before kicking off Mother's Day festivities, I hit the pool at LAAC and swam a quarter of a mile in about twenty minutes. Yesterday, I hit the weights before going to my friend Sabrina's fundraiser event. And all last week, I was a regular at Educogym and on the basketball court. I truly believe that building muscle and getting back in fighting shape has been key to sailing through these last rounds of chemo.

Acupuncture and plenty of sleep are also essential to my build-up to treatment. And finally, I make sure that I spend plenty of quality time with family and friends. After all, there's nothing more motivating than being with the people I love. I definitely did that this weekend: great times with friends and family (especially my mom - Happy Mother's Day!) abounded, and I had a blast.

And now your champion is ready for chemo: my body is strong and well-nourished, my heart is full, and my mind is focused. Time to rock this next round.