Roadtrip!!!

After a little pitstop at OMM, Will and I hit the road for Monterey without any real plans but to relax, spend some quality time together, and enjoy the beautiful Pacific Ocean. As you can see, Winston was pretty excited about the trip.

So far, we've had a great time. The drive was gorgeous -- clear, sunny skies greeted us the whole way up north, and Winston peacefully slept on my chest for most of the trip. We're staying in Pacific Grove for the first time ever, which is a small town adjacent to Monterey and home to the beautiful 17-mile drive. Our cottage is quaint and has a fireplace, and we can hear the crashing of the waves when we open our window. I'm feeling great - no discernible fatigue or any other side effects from my last round of chemo.

Not bad for a Thursday. 

Every day is an opportunity for another adventure, and I'm not letting any opportunity pass me by.

My Reiki Experience

I've recently started to do reiki therapy sessions with my friend Aymee's mom, Aymee, who is a Reiki Master (which means she's done extensive training in reiki therapy and knows her stuff). Reiki focuses on the ancient technique of energy healing, and my sessions have been great so far -- by the time my hour is up, I feel energized but peaceful, filled with vitality but centered and calm. It's a pretty interesting feeling, feeling very energized without feeling jittery. Reiki is much better than caffeine, I'll tell you that.

Today I had a particularly intense session. Almost immediately, I felt deeply peaceful and relaxed. Then, I thought about my friends and family, and started to feel everyone's love and support. I thought of my healthy and strong body, and marveled about how well I had done so far, with one surgery and seven rounds of chemo under my belt. I started to taste the joy of knowing that, soon enough, I'll know that I've completely beaten this disease. I felt my eyes starting to well up with tears even though my eyes were shut.

As I took some more deep breaths and started to calm down a bit, my mind just kept on running. I "saw" (if you will) my surgery, my exposed insides, and the pink and healthy look of my organs. I heard Dr. Sugarbaker reporting to my parents and Will that most of the cancer in my peritoneum had been killed by the chemo, so there was really very little he had to remove. I saw myself coming into consciousness in the ICU, with my mom holding my hand, telling me that Dr. Sugarbaker had gotten all the cancer out. I saw myself happily receiving this news, with tears streaming down my smiling face.

Powerful experience, right? It really was something.

So much of this journey has been about my emotional and mental state -- my attitude as I fight this idiotic cancer. Today's reiki session supercharged my spirit and my attitude, and I truly believe, now more than ever, that I will thoroughly whoop cancer's ass. And once I do, we're going to celebrate like crazy.

Letting My Paintbrush Do The Talking

Between the blog and the book, catching up on email and chit chatting with friends, I spend a lot of my time talking -- either with my inner writer voice (like now) or with my actual voice. Today, I made some quiet time for myself and spent the better part of the day painting.

Painting is such a great escape for me because it's creative and cerebral but not taxing or stressful at all. It's just me, my brushes, my paints and the canvas...and I can go wherever I want with them. When I paint, I feel peaceful and focused at the same time. It's like I'm having a quiet conversation with the colors and textures, leading the charge in creating the thing I've envisioned but also improvising and letting my ideas flow freely.

Yup, the same person who spends time lifting weights, boxing, and shooting hoops also dabbles in oil paints. WunderGlo is not just a jock, ladies and gents.

Once I came up with the "Love Life" concept for my paintings, all the hard work was done, really. Each painting is a variation on that idea. I create different background designs, use different blending techniques, employ different color schemes, but I've always got the same overarching theme: a bold, bright declaration of joy. Given the fact that I've just finished my seventh round of chemo without skipping a beat, I can't think of a better way to express myself these days.

Chemo Round 7

Today was a momentous one for me -- my last round of chemo before my surgery. As you can guess, I woke up charged and ready for the day, anticipating a great time at Norris and feeling strong and ready for one more dose of those cancer-killing meds. I was ready to give cancer one last jaw-shattering upper cut.

Once I got to Norris (after blasting "All The Above" in the car), I went straight to the Blood Draw place and waited to have my name called. My least favorite blood drawer was there, and I decided to roll the dice and not request another nurse to do the deed. If I got that blood drawer, so be it. If she found my vein a little later than the more experienced drawers, so be it. If it hurt a little (or a lot) more than it would have with the others, so be it. I call the process of not speaking up and requesting someone in particular to take my blood "rolling the dice" and whenever I see this young nurse in the blood draw area, I start blowing on fake dice and then tossing the fake dice down a fake craps table. 

So I rolled the dice this morning. I got my least favorite blood drawer...and she did a great job! Totally professional, found the vein immediately, and I didn't feel a hint of pain. It was a little going away present.

I had a great time with Taline and Dr. Lenz, who both cracked me up with some hilarious and irreverent jokes. I'm going to have to call them when I'm in the hospital to get a bit of levity -- Sugarbaker does not seem like a big jokester (but I'm not giving up on him yet). Taline also asked me if there was anything wrong with me because my blood work looked fantastic. Between Taline praising my blood and Ilse telling me I'm made of steel, I'm starting to feel pretty impressed with my body these days.

The chemo itself went great. I got my favorite nurse (who finally agreed to take a picture with me!), one of my dearest friends Jesse surprised me with a visit (he lives in San Francisco, but was in L.A. just for the morning for business), and I got to meet my friend Caitlin's dad who is also a colon cancer warrior.

Followed up my chemo with some relaxing at home, then a killer legs workout at the gym, just to show the cancer who's boss. Got my grub on post-workout with my parents, Will, Aymee, and Erin at Cru, the raw, organic, vegan restaurant I tried the other night. SO GOOD.

This last round of chemo was memorable and entertaining. I found it painless, easy, and fun. I give major props to exercise and acupuncture for helping me manage (more than manage, really) the few side effects I've experienced. I give major props to Dr. Lenz and his whole crew for being not just brilliant and professional, but caring, funny, and kind. And I give major props to my three nurses (Will, my mom, and my dad) for supporting me in every way, day in and day out, throughout the entire process.

Who could say with deep sincerity that chemo has been nothing short of wonderful? I can. And that makes me a lucky girl.

Week in Review/Week in Preview

Looking back on my East Coast trip, looking forward to my last round of chemo before surgery. Good times all around!!

Week in Review

• A Memorable Monday in D.C. -- met with my future surgeon (Dr. Sugarbaker), met my friend and fellow cancer warrior (Howard), paid homage to one of my favorite presidents at his memorial (Lincoln), hung out with friends from high school and college and law school (Meghan, Katie, Don, Jon and Raquel), and learned some boxing moves from my second cousin (Vivian)
• Really started stepping it up on the workout front -- boxing, running, basketball, and stepping up my already challenging sessions at Educogym. Getting winded, getting (more) ripped, and feeling fantastic.
•  Acupuncture with Mary Ellen on Wednesday followed by a late lunch in Santa Monica with my friends Erin and Anna and my mom at Real Food Daily. Vegan nachos, cheeseburger, and vanilla shake. Yummy.
•  Reiki on Thursday with my friend Aymee's mom, followed by a screening of Get Low with Aymee at the Arclight. The screening was followed by a Q&A with the star of Get Low and a living legend, Robert Duvall. Just a run of the mill Thursday for your pal WunderGlo, right? So awesome.
• Headed to OMM on Friday. Spent quality time with Tim and Sabrina and my other OMM buds, and made some good progress on the book.
• Had a productive and fun Saturday -- attended Western Center Advisory Board retreat, took a delicious 2 hour nap, made even more progress on the book, and had a date night with Will at a raw, organic, vegan restaurant called Cru. Had an incredibly delicious portobello "lasagna" (that wasn't really like lasagna at all -- raw zucchini replaced noodles, cashew cheese replaced cheese, there was no tomato sauce but there was pesto sauce), some ginger limeade, and split a vegan brownie with coconut ice cream for dessert. The people at Cru are going to see me often. Very often. 
• Chilled out on Sunday -- worked on the book, hung out with Will and Winston (freshly groomed and looking handsome as ever), and grabbed dinner with Will and my parents at Desert Rose in Los Feliz.
• Watched Duke go 15-0 with solid wins over UAB and Maryland. My favorite Dukie, Nolan Smith, is playing like a beast these days.
• Took all my vitamins, got all my Lovenox shots, got lots of rest, drank lots of water, became a vegan, and beat the hell out of cancer.

Week in Preview

• Chemo Round 7 -- ah, lucky number seven...the last round of chemo before I get a little pre-surgery break from it (I'll start chemo again about a month after surgery). Rested up all weekend and prepared mentally and physically for this final round. Very excited to finish this half of chemo strong, and more pumped about getting to Norris in the morning than usual.
• Hitting the gym every day, strapping on my boxing gloves once I get detached from my bag o' chemo on Wednesday (doing jabs and crosses and upper cuts might not be the smartest thing to do while I've still got a needle in my chest). Keep pushing myself physically like a lil' Rocky Balboa.
• Spending quality time with all of my buddies -- with only two more weeks in L.A. until I embark on the cross-country trip, I think I'll be doing a lot of this. :)
• Reiki and acupuncture on Wednesday - I'm all about Zen Wednesdays lately.
• Lunch with my OMM buddy Seth on Thursday, followed by a little road trip with Will. We're going to Monterey for the night -- time to commune with the ocean and spend some quality time with the hubby.
• Spending Friday in Monterey with Will, but getting home at a decent time on Friday night because on Saturday morning, I'll be...
• Going to Vegas! Heading to Caesar's Palace with Will, Tim, and my mom. My mom's birthday is on Saturday, so we'll be sure to show her a fun time.
• Lots of writing (book) and painting ("Love Life") and reading (Louise Hay, mind/body techniques for surgery book, The China Study).
• Taking all my vitamins, getting all my Lovenox shots, resting, hydrating, continuing my new vegan lifestyle, and continuing to thoroughly embarrass "the cancer." Stupid punk cancer.

Happy trails this week, everyone! Hope you're half as excited for Monday morning as I am.