A Wrinkle In Time

Have you read it? Did you love it? Author Madeleine L’Engle wrote this engrossing novel, winning the Newbury in 1963. This travel through time and space is a delight and one I intend to return to again…and soon. Reaching deep with themes of death, social conformity, and truth, this children’s chapter book can be a whole new adventure read as an adult. Here’s an interesting take on this read from adults in a Mashable podcast.

 

A Wrinkle In Time is the first in the Time Quintet series. Right now, it’s resurgence is notable in relation to the release of the movie in February 2018. Every where I turn I see this classic and what a wonderful thing that is! But what does this have to do with cancer and melanoma?

Scans and Tessering

Well, here goes my thoughts on this and cancer patients and caregivers might be most able to relate to this. Time goes fast, time goes slow for all of us. I am learning to live in the moment, the here and now but what happens when you have a full day of appointments, appointments that will give you more time to enjoy life, or bring you to that place of worry when not “passing” the scans? Let me know how you deal with scan days.

My caregiver works with me as I submit to the surrealism of MRI, CT, any various dyes, drugs, and blood letting. Liquid hope is funneled into veins like water through a hose. Like A Wrinkle in Time, there is a sci-fi quality about my Dana Farber day,  lying in tubes hearing thumps or being directed to breathe and not breathe by mechanical audio direction. Big Brother, is that you? Meditation helps to keep me in balance and mindfulness reminds me that this singular moment of pain and discomfort will pass, too.

Each of us has our wrinkle in time, a place between reality and the unknown. Sensations of time and place muddle. Questions of belief and hope are only human, and that’s just fine, to feel human. Characters in the book find their time spent with tesseracts; this time travel is often physically painful and leaves them with anxiety, uncertainty. Sound familiar?

Parallel Universe?

Parallels between A Wrinkle in Time and our own cancer journeys are uncanny. Reality is a fine place though some days we feel as though we are in a time warp, part of a science fiction writing that brings us places we never thought we’d go. Balance tips  as our health tessering brings concerns to the forefront, our future looms closer. Living in the moment skyrockets out of reach as medical melee hurls us toward the future.

Madeleine L’Engle  states that “For me, this book activates both transparency and resistance. It urges us to open ourselves up to those hurts, those tribulations, those disappointments, those doubts, those uncertainties. All of which can be summarized as darkness. It walks us through that pain to a light within ourselves, sparking us to resist all that is not for our good and fight for a better way. Simply put, A Wrinkle in Time offers a glimpse of eternity”.

Not sure where I am with the idea of eternity, but I totally look for the light in each moment, and not the sun light! Find that light within yourselves and fight the cancer battle with courage. Not the journey we chose, but how lucky to still be on the trip! #melanomatheskin #cancer #awrinkleintime #melanoma #Thursdaythoughts

We Can-cer vive!

Janis

 

 

Melanoma Marathon

Now Racing Through My Mind…

is the appointments, no longer in the distance but hurdles to be jumped in the next few days. I honestly, don’t see a finish line in my melanoma path, primarily because beating cancer is now a way of life. This isn’t a knee scrape that we put a band aid on and all is good.

Bottom line, I’m alive and I’m in the care of world class doctors at Dana Farber, and I’m monitored on a regular basis.  Do I want to be under such scrutiny? Hell, yes! While I’d love to have no medical anything in life, I have a ginormous medical life. This is what is keeping me alive and that is how I look at it. This IS life now.

Not The Fast Track

My journey involves traveling. Weighing whether my Stage III metastatic melanoma was worthy of out-of-state cancer treatment with the recurrence, it was obvious that was the track we were on. Road trips add another layer of angst but once you get the routine down its okay.

A folder includes changes in medicines, printed schedules, and other loose paperwork. The notebook of questions, previous notes, and dates, etc. is essential. Identification and the dreaded health insurance cards are put in my “Maggie Bag”… a gift from a friend that keeps the small essentials together. There’s also a cribbage board in there, pens, chapstick, pain relievers, and special beads from the grandkids.

All of this goes in the backpack, along with water bottles, snacks, and perhaps some knitting or reading.  I can’t do books on Dana Farber days as my mind wanders but a good magazine is easier on the brain.  Why the backpack? These days are beyond full so we bring what we need and usually don’t have to return to the parking garage until day’s end.  Wear comfortable walking shoes as procedures are not next door! What works for you on big medical days? I’d love to hear your tips! Please comment.

Having a caregiver, if possible, is very important. Driving, listening to medical professionals, helping to navigate floors, offices, and labs, taking notes, asking questions, and just offering support in a very anxious situation is incredibly helpful.

Start Up: A Marathon with Hurdles

Dermatologists will examine every dot and spot. Included in the day is: blood work, MRI and CT scans, skin cancer oncologists, and the infusion team if all goes well. Beyond grueling as woven in to this time of poking and prodding, is the nugget all cancer patients keep buried in the back of their thoughts…”will the tests come back clean?”.

Health information is exchanged. I let my medical team know of my fatigue challenges, what aches, any new areas in question. In return, I will get preliminary results from all the testing, and perhaps a green light for infusion of Yervoy (imilimumab), one of the drugs in the clinical trial that I started last Fall.

Train For The Hurdles

Like each day, I take the medical days moment by moment. Each appointment is important, and brings me one step closer to the end-of-the-day infusion that may be enhancing my immune system. Train your brain to seek the positive when possible. How you prepare for the next appointment matters.

Lead into your hurdles with hope and courage; it makes for a strong landing. Life is different for each of us, and we all have our challenges, our hurdles. Take each one as they come, and work toward a solid landing. Like the track and field runner, practice finding balance and positive head space. Where does your inspiration come from? #rootingforyou #cancer #melanomatheskin #melanoma #yippyforipi #inforthewin #Tuesdaythoughts

We can-cer vive!

Janis