Lord, I hope this day is Good

Nov, 14 –

Graduation day!  Last radiation treatment 🙂 

 I started the day with a zillion thoughts buzzing around in my mind.  Today is my last treatment.  Today is the last day of my journey.  In the beginning, I thought this day would never come.  Here it is.  While I was going through everything, the days just drug on by.   Looking back, honestly, it flew.  We are in November.  Soon it’ll be Thanksgiving.   My mind and my soul have been reeling since Valentine’s.  I just need rest.  I need mental and emotional rest.   My soul needs peace.  The anticipation of what the day will bring has me on edge.   I am relieved, that when I walk out of there, I AM DONE.  But I have mixed emotions.   Naturally, I have anxiety but I’ve had that for weeks now.  I feel anxious, happy, sad, I feel trepidation.  My feelings are all over the place.  My mental pain is still lingering and I just wanna be done.  I hope today is a good day.   

This song has been playing in my mind.  A lot of it, is me and how I’ve been feeling lately.  Empty and misunderstood, although, I am grateful.  I just want today to be a good day. 

 

🎶 LORD, I HOPE THIS DAY IS GOOD🎵

🎼🎶Lord, I hope this day is good.  I’m feeling empty and misunderstood.   I should be thankful, Lord I know I should but Lord, I hope this day is good. 

Lord, have you forgotten me?  I’ve been praying to you faithfully.   I’m not saying I’m a righteous man but Lord, I hope you understand. 

I don’t need fortune and I don’t need fame.  Send down the thunder Lord send down the rain. But when your planning  just how it will be, plan a good day for me. 

Lord, I hope this day is good.  I’m feeling empty and misunderstood.   I should be thankful, Lord I know I should, but Lord, I hope this day is good. 

You’ve been the King since the dawn of time.   All that I’m asking is a little less cryin.  It might be hard for the devil to do but it would be easy for you. 🎵🎶

 Lord, please just give me a good day.

 

Clara Sue came and picked me up.   I asked her to come with me today, since it’s my last time.  I wanted her to be there.  Here we go. 

When we got there, all the receptionists and nurses were excited for me.   “yay, last day!!”

 Sitting in the waiting area, I became friends with another patient receiving radiation.   She was older, maybe in her 70’s, great spirit.  We were always there at the same time and we’d sit and wait together til it was our turn.  She was happy for me. We talked about life after radiation.   I was getting more and more anxious.  I get called back.   Eeek , It’s time. 

This is the last time I’ll have to get in this thing.  

You can see the lazers as they line me up.  I’ve had great doctors.  That’s so important in a journey like this one.  You see them everyday, so they become a part of your routine. 

One of my wrists’ is in a brace.  They hurt so bad.   My whole body hurts with pain. I hope all of this goes away once I’m done.  I miss the ‘me’ that felt good.  The one that was happy all the time and never complained about pain. I’ve missed her a lot. I hope she comes back and that she’s not gone forever. Cuz, I’m not sure I can handle this new normal that has become my life.  I hate it.  I just don’t feel good, inside or out.  And I feel it from head to toe. 

A few minutes later.  All done. yes!!  We walk out to the hallway.  It’s time to ring my last bell.  Treatment is all over.  I made it.   I can feel a ball in my throat.  I’m getting choked up.   I started to get emotional as I went to go change.  Jill was still waiting, the other patient I bacame friends with.  We hugged and wished each other well.  I started to cry.  Something that didn’t happen the last time. 

It’s time. My doctors are with me.  I’m ready.   *ringing the bell*  last teatment.  I did so much better this time. 

 

Like the doctor said, “keep moving forward, no looking in the rearview mirror”  Nope, not a chance, no looking back.   Time to go forward.   This journey took 9 months and 1 day.   I could’ve had a baby in the time.  I would have much rather of had a baby.  This was rough and it still is.   There went my whole year and I thought 2017 was gonna be a good one.  It was my worst.

Let’s go.  I’m ready to leave.  But first, there is something that I need to do.  I asked Clara Sue if she would come with me to the infusion center on the other side from where we were.   I need to do something and I want her to be there.  As we walked in, I met up with my oncology nurses that I had during chemo.  Yay, celebration talks and congratulations.  I found Sara.  Sara was my main oncology nurse.   We ended up connecting so well during my infusions.  My very first day of chemo, I was frightened, anxious, nervous.  The unknown is very scary.  She had something for me.  A necklace, from a survivor.  She was instructed to give it the next one who came in for treatment for breast cancer.   It was me.   She gave it to me.  Along with hope to never give up.  That stayed with me throughout my journey.  A little hope can go a long way.  I wanted to do just the same.  We need to build each other up and become each others strength.  Whether we know one another or not.   I never knew this lady, didn’t even know her name.  but it touched me.  I want to continue that.   I am passing hope and strength forward.  To give the next one who comes in, the encouragement she needs to put up a good fight.   This is my gift to her. 

 “Fight hard and don’t ever give up”

Together ‘WE’ can make a difference. 

 As we walked out, my emotions were bubbling to the surface.  It felt that at any moment they were about to explode.   I didn’t feel this when I finished chemo.   Honestly, I felt nothing.  I felt numb, turned off.  Robotic, almost.  Just going through the motions.   This time was different.   This time it needed to come out.   That wall of built up feelings started to crumble and it wasn’t long til it came crashing down.   That dam broke.  All those feelings from the past 10 months came bursting out.  This is the release that I had been needing for soo long.  I bawled my heart out.  The floodgates opened up and out came all my fears, my anguish, the hurt, the pain. I finally let it all out.  I finally allowed myself to cry and to feel everything.  I cried the rest of the afternoon.  It was nonstop.  So much needed to be released.  I had to let it go.  I had to get it out of my system. It was just there, festering, making me miserable, making my chest feel so heavy, so heavy that it felt like I couldn’t breathe.  Guess what,  I was able to breathe,  I was finally able to take in that deep breathe and let it back out.  Oh how I needed to let go of the fear and the anguish.  All this time I wasn’t able to get that release.  Today, I finally got it.  I finally let all those feelings that I’ve been pushing down, out.  I acknowledge it all. I faced it.  I finally let it go.  I felt so much better, on the inside.   My  soul felt relieved. 

By the end of the day, I was emotionally exhausted.  But now, I can finally say, ” I am officially free and clear”  Oh my goodness!!  Free and clear.   What wonderful words. 

I am mentally and emotionally worn out.  Exhausted.   But my soul feels relief.  I can move on now.  I can gather the scattered leaves of my life and try to put them back together.  I hope I can.  I hope that now, my mind and my soul will be released from that prison they’ve been entangled in.  

 

I hope

 

 

Lord,  thank you for giving me a good day.  That’s all I asked for. 

 

 

Tomorrow, I start picking up the pieces

 

 

 

 

 

Mental and emotional Pain

The depths of this dark, bottomless pit are unforgiving.  I keep falling, further and further down.  There is no end in sight.  I’m holding on as tight as I can but I’m slipping.  Slipping at a high rate of speed.   What do I do?  There is nothing to grab on to.  I’m trying soo hard, but I can’t.  

My mind and my heart are so lost 😟   I’m definitely broken.  I feel like scattered autumn leaves with nowhere to go, blowing in all directions.    I know I am finally grieving and processing everything I have been through.   My doctor says she is going to get me back to where I was.  I really hope so.  I just can’t take this ‘feeling lost’ anymore.  I’m so afraid.  The fear of this impending doom is horrible.

Nov. 2 –  Today I feel so blah.  That’s nothing unusual but I feel super exhuasted.  Actually it’s that fatigue I’ve grown to hate so much.   Not sure if the side effects of radiation are catching up with me or the start of the new medication.   It doesn’t help that today is the anniversary that I lost my Pops.  I told myself this morning that I wasn’t gonna be sad, that today was gonna be a good day. But I miss my best friend so much.  Our talks and just hanging out.  Things, I feel, would be a lot easier to deal with if I had him here.  This nasty ordeal has had me longing for my parents like never before and the post traumatic stress makes it 10x harder.   

Today is day 2 of the medication.  I don’t feel a difference.  Yes, I know I just started it.  But if you’re like me, I want things to work yesterday.   I’m at the end of my rope, mentally, that I literally can’t wait for it to cycle and build up in my system.   I’m so afraid of the feelings I’ve been having.  My mind is so trapped, drowning.  I can’t breathe.   I can’t wait for Dominic to get home from school.  I don’t want to be by myself.   As much as I tried to not miss my Pops,  I was so sad and depressed, it even brought my son down.  It played over and over in my mind, the day we lost him, like a movie stuck on repeat.  I couldn’t turn it off.  My fragile mental state was at its very lowest.   Today was a very hard day.   

My aches and pains seem to be getting better by a millimeter.  Yeah, not much at all.   The pain in my knees is gone but unfortunately, it is everywhere else.  I think a lot of it settled in my wrists’, they really hurt, a lot.   I cancelled my upcoming physical therapy appointments cuz they were conflicting with my radiation appts.  Frankly, I lost interest in going to PT ever since she suggested that 6 week program she wanted to put me in.   I’m just tired.  Tired of going here and there.   Yes, I am a stubborn ass.  You’ll be happy to know that I am still doing all of my exercises at home that she had given me. 

 Nov. 3 –  weekly hair progress.  

3 months (exactly) post chemotherapy.   It’s thickening up. 

 

 

Guess what?  I only have 7 more radiation treatments left. Yay!!   It really is going by fast.  My skin is so irritable.   It definitely looks burnt.   I rub that healing ointment on faithfully.  It really does help.  Wearing a bra or anything that is tight or rubbing is very uncomfortable and painful.  Going braless always feels like Heaven but even more so now.  You won’t understand til you’ve been there.   Sports bras REALLY help.   I so recommend those for anyone going through boob radiation. 

Nov 8 –  Today I finally got out of the house.  I made plans with one of my good friends, Celina.  We have known each other since Dominic was a baby, she’s like having a sister.   She knows that things have been rough for me and we’ve been talking about getting together.  So, we finally did.  We were just gonna go to lunch but she ended up joining me at my rad appointment.    That made me happy.  I actually couldn’t wait to have some friend time and of course, some lunch.    She came a bit early, so we had time to talk.  Ive been telling her for awhile now, that I just need to cry.   She said all the right things to get that wall of pain and anxiety to crumble down.  I was finally able to cry, but just a bit. It didn’t all come out but at least I was able to release some of the anguish and fear from the last 9 months.   Telling her through tears, ” I don’t know what happened to my mental strength.  I just don’t feel like that strong person anymore.  I have no idea where she went.”  She was comforting.  She understood my mental struggles.  She didn’t tell me how to feel.  She didn’t tell me what to do.   She didn’t tell me that there are others that have it worse than I do.  She didn’t push me, she just waited.  Sat with me.  She was that shoulder to cry on.   Sometimes, all you need is someone to just sit with you.  Not to say anything or do anything.   Just someone to be there.   She was there.    She allowed me to feel whatever I needed to feel.  A lot of people have told me, “be grateful, look at how far you’ve come” or ” Don’t think that way”  or ” go out and do something, you’ll feel better.”   Don’t tell me how to handle it if you don’t understand what I am going through.  You have no idea.  When people tell you, you are a strong person, you feel ashamed to say you’re not that strong.  It makes it even harder to ask for help.  You feel weak and embarrased.  But know that I am doing my best considering my situation. 

 I needed this day.  I needed someone who understood.  I needed her.  She was there.  She was just what I needed.  

 

 

 

This was us (Celina and I)  on Superbowl Sunday, 2017.   I was happy.  Things were good.  Life was good.   This was one week before my diagnosis.   Then, my world was turned upsidedown.  I was gutted, shattered, knocked flat on my ass.    I wanna get back to a day like this day.   I wanna get back to normal.  I wanna be happy again.  I wanna be. . .  ‘me’

 I felt better after our day together.  Thank you, I love you

 

Mental struggles, I have learned, are very hard.  Unless you have been there, people just don’t understand, that when you are suffering mentally, you feel – sad/lonely/angry/upset/hopeless/devastated. . . in despair and the despair for me has snowballed rapidly.   Do, I wanna feel this way?  No, I don’t.  But I can’t help it.  Post traumatic stress/Depression is an illness, it needs to be treated just like any other.  When we don’t feel well, like when we have a cold or the flu or we have a toothache, we go to the doctor/dentist.  We’re given medication, antibiotics.  How come we don’t do the same with anxiety or depression? 

Please remember;  Mental health is just as important

 

It is frustrating when people don’t understand how you feel.

 

Nov 9 – weekly progress

14 weeks post chemotherapy

I’m getting a teeny bit of a wave in the back.

 

 

Today was actually a good day.  Haven’t had one of those in so long.   It wasn’t great but it wasn’t horrible either.  I’ll take it.    Maybe my ‘friend time’ yesterday had a lot to do with it.  

 

I only have 3 more treatments to go!!  Next week, I’ll be completely done.  It’ll be all over.  The end to this M$%(##_) F#$^#_)$^*_)_$)^ nightmare will be over.  I’m so glad I can almost say that. 

 

 Well, I am one week in to my medication.   I still don’t see or feel a difference.  I wonder if this will work for me?   Again I am scouring the internet looking for answers.  Reading reviews to see if this med has been a success for people.   It’s crazy how all of this has had me hunger and obsess for info.   It’s the need to feel and want relief.   I just can ‘t imagine living my life with physical and mental pain.  I won’t last.  Thankfully, I have a couple of friends who constantly send me uplift verses or memes.   Unfortunately, it’s not enough to take away all the pain that my mind is suffering.  It only goes on like a bandaid for 2 seconds and then it’s ripped off again and I’m coming unglued.  Please Lord,  I know there’s a way to climb out of this.  I’m just not that strong, yet.   With some of the blogs that I have come across and almost all of the reviews I’ve read, it seems that it takes roughly 2 weeks for anyone to feel like it is working.   Well, that is exactly what the doctor told me.   I guess it’s true.  One more week to hopefully feel better.  Soon, I will be able to increase the dose.   You have to start off slowly to see how it is gonna make you feel.  after about a week and a half you can start to increase the dose.   I can almost do that. 

This is what my doctor prescribed me –  Sertraline 50 mg,

It helps with – PTSD, anxiety, depression, sleeping disorders, panic attacks and other ailments. 

 

 

As much as I couldn’t wait to get to the end of this journey, I never imagined I was gonna sink this low.  It never crossed my mind.   I’m not sure it crosses anyones mind until they get to this point.  Why would it?  We (I) have so much to be thankful for.   I’m almost to the end.  Just a few more days.   I AM cancer free.  My margins are clear.  I made it through chemo and all the illnesses that came with it – loss of hair, horrible mouth sores, bad taste, bad eye site, weight loss, dry skin, kidney stones, shingles, neuropathy, you name it.   I made it through surgery – Wires, radioactive dye, partial mastectomy and lumpectomy (other side), lymph node dissection, anesthesia and all the pain afterwards.  I’m almost to the end of my last hurdle (radiation) and I’m surviving that.   So, why on earth would I feel so down and hopeless?  Crawling out of my skin and thoughts of ending my life?   I have so much to be happy about.  I should be at the top of the mountain shouting out at the top of my lungs, “I made it, I made it”.   I should be enjoying life and smiling from ear to ear, also saying, “no, no devil, not this time.  Even though you had a big hold on me,  You weren’t gonna win.”  Instead, I am lost, I’m confused. I feel detached.   I’m at the bottom of the pit.  Rock bottom.  On the dark side.   A place I had heard of many times but didn’t think exsisted.   A place that before this journey, I knew I would never be.  How could I?  I’m just too happy for that kind of a place.  Guess what?   I’m there.  I am at that place.  Yes, me, your high spirited, Strong, playful, joking, best positive attitude girl, is in that dark place.   Believe it.  It is true. 

You know what? Aside from no one ever talking about the painful physical after effects of chemo, for sure, no one talks about the mental and emotional side effects.  Everyone rallies around you through your journey.  They boost you up so you have the strength and courage to fight.  They give you tons of love and support.  Saying, “you can do it.  You are brave, you’re a warrior.”  Why don’t we get the same support when we feel mental and emotional pain?  Why isn’t the love and support the same?  People believe that mental pain isn’t real.  That it is not an illness, that it’s a choice to feel that way.  So, instead of getting all that support, you almost get. . . . . bullied, mocked, frowned upon.  The love isn’t the same.  No one rallies around you.  No one gives you courage and strength to make it through THIS challenge.  The support isn’t there.   Here come the stupid ‘pep talks’,  “You’re too strong, why would you feel this way?,  This isn’t you.  You have so much to be grateful for.  You survived”.   It’s like, ‘yeah, I did survive.  But did you know that last week and the week before that,  I felt like slitting my wrists?,  I felt like ending my life and that wasn’t the first time.”  The cancer didn’t kill me, but my mind just might.  It’s a whole other battle.  I didn’t ask for this, just like I didn’t ask to get breast cancer.’   Love and support me the same.  Regardless of what kind of illness I may have. Mental pain hurts just as bad and it is just as deadly as cancer is.   

When a person begins their cancer journey, they DO tell you to talk with a therapist.  They encourage it, just like they do everything else.   They encourage it but they don’t really tell you why.  They just say it’s a good idea. They don’t explain and say that you could possibly have a mental break when it is all said and done.  They just tell you ‘your cancer journey will be long’,  they don’t say that it continues mentally and emotionally. (hence the PTSD)  So, no, you are not really done with your journey when you finish your chemo.  It is not until the storm settles, that you are finally able to ‘feel and deal’ with what you have just been through.  To finally grasp and wrap your head around your diagnosis and treatment.  To finally see all the pieces of the scattered leaves (your life).   and how they are strewn about everywhere.  Do I let them blow away with the wind or do I gather them all up?   I don’t even have the strength to do that.  I am so detached.  From day 1 ( diagnosis) you ARE in a malicious whirlwind of doctors appt, chemo appts, everything, that you just don’t see til way later, just how damaged and broken you really are.

 

 

 

To any and everyone who has ever suffered.  This is coming from the person ( me) that used to judge mental illness. 

I am so sorry

 

From the bottom of my heart, I’m sorry that I ever judged you.  I’m sorry that I thought you were weak and not strong enough to overcome the feelings that you were having.    I’m sorry that I’M the one who questioned, “how can somebody feel like that?  How can someone let things get that bad?  Why would someone end their life?”  I can’t say it enough,  “I am sorry.”   I should’ve never questioned anyone’s actions.  I should’ve never put the blame on them.  I should’ve never thought, ‘it’s a choice, not an illness’.   When it IS most definitely an illness and it shouldn’t be over looked as being weak.   I should’ve never. . . . .   I just shouldn’t have.    I had no idea.  No idea at all, until I found myself walking in those same shoes.   I would’ve never known until I had to go through it myself.   I don’t wanna be in those shoes.  I don’t wanna wear them.  They hurt and they make my soul ache.   It’s a desperate ache.  An ache that wont go away.  Please help me to take these shoes off.  They’re very tight and they’ve left me blistered and bleeding.  I can’t walk in them anymore.  They’ve left me crawling.  It’s caused me so much pain. 

 

 It is so true when they say, ‘You don’t know what anyone is going through until you’ve been there yourself.”  I know now.  I understand now.  I get it.  Your soul hurts, your heart hurts, your mind hurts.  It just hurts, everything.  I know you have lots of people who love you but you still feel alone.  Cuz, I do.  I’m not trying to shut anyone out, but I am.  I’m not trying to feel alone, but I feel all alone. I’m not trying to be lost and sad, but I am.   I’m not trying to end my life but that’s what I feel.  I didn’t choose to feel this way, but I do.   I can’t control it and I know you can’t either.  But there is help, I just had to ask for it.  It’s hard to ask for help, I realize that.  I needed to ask for help cuz I understand now that all it takes is a strong moment of despair to end all things.  I was almost at that point.  The thoughts are over powering.  It’s like having your hands tied behind your back.   You are no longer in control of yourself.  The demons (thoughts) are. 

 

To the person(s) that found the despair to be too much –  It hurts me, deeply, that you took your life.  The feelings are profound.  I am so sad that it ended this way and sad for the people around you who loved you dearly.   I am sad for the promising life that was awaiting you, but I do understand that all you wanted was peace.   Cuz I want peace.   I yearn for it.   I pray for it.  I hope I find it.   I don’t take one day at a time anymore.  It has gotten to a point where it is one moment at a time.   Cuz from one moment to the next, is unpredictable. 

 I hope and pray that you found peace. That peace that you so needed, even if it was in the worst way.  And I hope you know, You are loved. 

 

Please get help.  Don’t be afraid to ask for help.  I will NEVER judge your struggles again,

 

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355967

Depression

 

https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

http://suicidehotlines.com/newmexico.html

 

Always check on your friends.   The happiest ones could be having the darkest feelings.  And. . . . don’t ever judge. 

 

 Nov 13 –  This is my last week of radiation!!!!  One more day to go.  I can’t believe this time has come.  I’ve been waiting for this since February.  ONE MORE DAY!

 

 

 

Tomorrow is my last radiation!!  I get to ring my last and final bell

 

 

 

Hitting rock Bottom

I couldn’t get over the loss of our beloved furbaby, Riley.   It hit me so hard, it broke me in a way that I couldn’t pick myself back up.  I cried for days on end.   It didn’t help that the day she went to kittie heaven was the anniversary that I lost my Mom.   And of course, the circumstances surrounding the passing of Riley.  Let’s just say, I don’t know how to forgive my dogs, especially Honey.   I’m so sad and heartbroke.  I can’t look at her without crying my heart out.  She totally broke my heart.  Dealing with that on top of everything else and the anniversary of my Mama was just too much for me. 

 

 I didn’t see it coming, but this was the beginning of my downward spiral.   It was an avalanche of pure pain and despair and I didn’t know if I was gonna pull through.  Something in me snapped, mentally, and it sent me spiraling into a dark, ugly world. 

 

Sept 25 –   My aches and pains haven’t subsided at all.   Everyday it get worse and worse.   I have an appointment with my primary doctor at the end of the month to discuss all this pain and I can’t wait.  I have the pain meds that my oncologist gave me but I just don’t want to take such a heavy medication all the time, even though it does help with the pain.  It doesn’t help me to sleep.   It seems like I’m taking pure caffiene.  It keeps me wide awake.  Getting out of bed has become very hard.  My joints  and my bones hurt sooo bad.   Sitting in one spot for even just a little while has become dreadful.  Everything hurts.  My feet, the bottoms of my feet, my heels, my knees, my back.   I. . just. . hurt. . everywhere.  It’s still hurts very much for me to grasp the steering wheel.  I’ve never had this kind of physical pain before.   Not even through the chemo.  So, why is this hitting me now??  I finished chemo 7 weeks ago.  What is going on??  I hope my primary has some answers for me.   

Sept. 28 – It rained for 6 hours straight last night.  And as much as I love the rain and cloudy days, it really brought me down.  This kind of weather never makes me feel this way but this time it was horrible.  It made me soo sad. I couldn’t wait for the rain to go away.   I’ve tried my best to have good days but I just miss my furbaby so much and all this pain doesn’t help either.   I’ve cried everyday but in public I put on a happy face.  I’ve been getting these weird feelings at night when I’m trying to get some sleep.   Something washes over me.   I don’t know if its bits of anxiety or what.   But I don’t like how it feels and I’ve noticed it’s happening at night. 

 Tonight Dominic and I are having a dinner date with Clara Sue and her husband.   We are gonna cook at her house and make chicken fried steak..  mmmm.    Even though I love her company and can’t wait to hang out, there is a part of me that doesn’t wanna go.   Maybe I can get out of this funk.   This pain just makes it hard to enjoy anything. 

On a better note,  I took these pictures before we left.   This is the progress so far. 

 

8 weeks post chemotherapy

 

 Dinner was great and so was the company.  We decided to watch a movie.   The newest Transformers.   They had never seen it and we just bought it, so, it’s a movie night.   Getting comfortable was nearly impossible.  My joints are starting to lock up on me and the idea of sitting through a 2+ hour movie brought me down.   I hid the misery of my pain but tried to enjoy it the best that I could.   Those feelings that I mentioned earlier bubbled up to the surface during a cliff scene in the movie.   I don’t know why but during this scene, feelings of dread just washed over me.  It actually gave me anxiety.   It felt like I was dangling from that cliff about to fall.  It was a horrible feeling that I couldnt get rid of.   I never feel like this during movies, EVER.   These are the same feelings that I’ve been feeling at night.  For some reason this particular scene triggered those feelings.  It actually made me feel scared.   I don’t understand.  Why would I feel this way??  Over a movie?   Especially when you have your good friends and your son sitting next to you.   After it was over, I couldn’t move from the chair that I was sitting on.  My body just felt like it locked up.  I didnt mention anything about the feelings I was having.   Forcing myself up, we got ready to leave.  On the drive home, those feelings would come and go.   Got home, got ready for bed and lying there, here they come again.   I feel so anxious. That uneasiness washed over me and I just had to cry.  I couldn’t even tell you why.  I don’t know what it is.  It’s something else other than sadness.    ? ? ? ? ? 

Sept 29 – Doctor visit – Here with my primary discussing  all of my issues. I gained a pound!  Can you believe that?   She was shocked to learn all I had been through.  She checked me up and down.  On the surface, she couldn’t find a single thing wrong with me.  She had no idea what was causing me so much pain.  She suggested that it could be the barometric pressure.  There were lots of suggestions.   So, she ordered a ton of tests.  She’s sending me for xrays and blood tests to make sure the chemo didn’t give me an onset of osteoarthiritis or fibromyalga, etc.  Also, she wants me to get an ultrasound on my thyroid and to come back in on Nov. 1st for a follow up.  She wants me to go to physical therapy, she does NOT like the idea of the percocet on a daily basis.   She also reminds me that I’ve had a rough year and that my body is trying to decondition itself.   Okay, I understand that.   But does it have to cause this kind of pain?   I was going to mention the feelings that I started having but I figured it really wasn’t that important right now and they would go away soon enough.  I just want relief from it all and to be able to do things normally again.  

 I’ve been searching the internet looking for answers on all these after affects.   None of my doctors from my oncology team could explain how I feel, neither could my primary.   I know it’s not all in my head and I REALLY should be feeling better by now.    I’m going on 2 months post chemo.   What the hell???   Since no one can give me any answers up front I’m going to try some natural stuff.  I found this online and from the reviews, it seems to work great.  ‘Joint care essentials’   I’m gonna give it a whirl and see if it helps me.  

I also started taking turmeric 2x a day.  I NEED relief!!!    I’m starting to get impatient with everything.  The cloudy, rainy weather that we’ve been having really set into my bones.   The shootings in Las Vegas hit me hard.   It got to me in a different way, as if I knew those people personally.   It added to my already somber/fragile state and I just sunk further into sadness.   I couldn’t watch the news, or read any magazines on the tragedy.   My heart and mind just couldnt handle it.  I cried and cried.   

Oct 4 – So much for a sunny day 😢 I feel sad and blue 😔

I see both my oncologist and radiation oncologist on Oct. 5 and I start physical therapy on the 6th and do my ultrasound of my thyroid.   I already did my bloodwork and my xray on my knee.   So, we’ll see what happens.   Hopefully, I get some answers and something will help. 

 My weekly hair growth progress.   Oct. 4 –

 

9 weeks post chemotherapy  

The hair on my legs is growing back with a vengeance   😆  I hope my hair grows back that fast. 

This is my scar from my lymph node incision.   It doesn’t look bad.   It’s healing very nicely.   I still dont have feeling on the back side of my shoulder/armpit.  They said that would be normal and shouldn’t last that long. 

 

All of my labs came back normal.   That means all of this pain is still a mystery.  🤔

Oct. 5 – Today I saw both of my doctors, Oncologist and radiation oncologist.  Everything looks good so far.   Neither one of them was able to explain to me the pain that I’ve been having.   They said it was very unusual.   I have a hard time understanding that.   How can it be unusual??   Your body is basically massacred for months.   How can a person just heal without any reprecussions from all that poison?   They really didn’t seem to care either.  I would get better.   I asked my oncolgist to extend my time off from work.   I’m due to go back on Nov 1 but with all this pain, there is just no way.  I need to be able to lift and grab things and right now, I just can’t.  He extended my time to Dec. 10.    Hopefully, I’ll be good to go by then.  

My radiation oncologist suggested 4 weeks of radiation, daily.   Even though I am basically cancer free, radiation is just another cautionary step.  If I have even the tiniest cell left lingering in there,  this would obliterate it.   I come in on the 10th to do my mapping, to get exact markings for radiation.   These visits will be quick and painless, maybe 10 minutes each.  Then I can truly say, “I am all done, It’s over!!”   

 Oct. 6 – today I started physical therapy.   At first I was annoyed at the fact of therapy but now that this pain has gotten to a chronic point, I can’t wait.   She was very nice.   She had me do a bunch of different motions.  My knees and my feet/ankles hurt the worst right now.   Also my hands/fingers.   It is still so hard for me to grasp anything, like my steering wheel or door knobs.   I explained to her all of my issues and all the pain.   She finally gave me an answer,  something I have been needing since August.  The chemo attacked the cartilage, soft tissues and the ligaments between my joints.  I have horrible tendonitis throughout my body and it’s going to take several months to get back to where I was pre-diagnosis.   She promised she would get me better.   At this point, Im just trying to get through each day the best that I can.  At least now I know where all this pain is coming from.   All of this has gotten me depressed, literally.  There are days I feel so down and just cry.  Nobody talked about the after effects.  So, I wasn’t expecting any of this.   I’ll go every week for physical therapy.  She gave me certain exercises to do at home regularly that are targeted to my most severe pain.   I really hope it helps.  I can’t see myself living the rest of my life in this kind of pain. It is soooo making me depressed.   I come back next week.    Today, I also went in to do my ultrasound on my thyroid.    Let’s see how those results come in.  

This week is balloon fiesta week and as much as I love this time, I’m hating it.   I can’t enjoy it at all.    I love this time of year but this year it has affected me so differently.  Fall is one of my favorite seasons.   The weather gets cooler.   It’s not so hot and dreadful.  But the changing of the season has me so down and sad, I don’t know why.   I feel it all over.  It’s not just in my mind.  I feel it in my bones, in my body.   All the rain that we’ve had lately brought me down as well.   It had me so sad.   I never feel that way.    I LOVE LOVE rain 🌧🌩💧  Not this time.  It made my heart ache 😔 I hate it.  I hate the rain.  I hate the changing of the season.  I hate it all.   What is wrong with me????  

Tonight I recieved a message from a good friend/customer that one of her high school friends had passed away.   From guess what?   Cancer, lung cancer.  It spread to her brain and to her liver and the treatment that she had been recieving wasn’t doing her any good anymore.   I didn’t know this lady, just knew of her struggles.    We had never met.   But I prayed for her as she did for me.  Our mutual friend would tell each of us about the other.  I had high hopes for her.   So, naturally it broke my heart.   Actually, it crushed it.   Again, I felt an overwhelming sadness as if I personally knew her.   I cried for her.   I cried my eyeballs out.  It felt as if I had lost a close friend.   Here I am crying over someone I had never met, just knew of.   My heart hurts.  I am soo sad 😢😢 

I’ve noticed I don’t handle stress very well anymore.  Earlier this week I found a leak behind my Pops’ house.   I thought it was just a puddle from all that rain cuz it’s shaded by the house.  My older brother told me it was a leak and there might be a busted pipe.  That house and everything that comes with it, is so old, I knew one day that was gonna happen.   It stressed me out to no end and I cried like if it was the end of the world.  I feel so broken. 

 Oct 10 –   The morning weather has gotten chilly.  It was 36* this morning when I walked with Dominic to the bus stop.  As much as I’ve been wanting cooler weather, I hate the cold. 

 Today I go in for my mapping to start radiation.   They have to make a mold that I will just lie in eveytime I come in.   That way I just get in it, they line me up, I get radiation and that’s it.   

Well, this is how my mold (above) turned out annnnnd (below) these are all my markings.   They put tape over them so they don’t have to keep marking me over and over.   I am not allowed to peel them off or wash them off in the shower.  And I’m not allowed to swim or soak in the tub.  They have to stay on til I’m done.  

I start radiation next week on the 18th, daily until Nov 14.   I. am. almost. there.   A little over a month to go.  My very last hurdle.  

Everyday my lymph node scar looks better n better.  I still don’t have any feeling in that area but at least my arm motion is getting better.   Since I was taking pictures of my markings and scars, I also took this one.  This is whats left from when I had shingles.  I guess this is how they’re gonna stay looking.  It’s been 4 months. 

It doesn’t hurt anymore but it is tender and the skin is very dry.   Sometimes it’s very itchy.   

Red lips – just because

I got the results back from the xray on my knee.   No arthritis or any other issues.   I’ve been taking those natural supplements faithfully.   Haven’t noticed any difference yet.  Thank God for the percocet.   As much as I don’t like taking it.   It is the only way for me to get relief and to be able to do things and function like a normal person.  I take them twice a day.   That seems to be good enough.   I try not to take the 2nd one so late in the day because it keeps me wide awake and I already have enough trouble getting some sleep. 

 Oct 12 – my weekly progress

 

10 weeks post chemotherapy 

 

my hair is getting a little bit of a wave in the back and LOOK at my eyelashes!!   They are finally ALL back and look great!!  I’m excited about that!

 

The saying on my shirt just about sums it up –  ‘The struggle is real’

 

Friday the 13th – physical therapy day.  We did different motions today.   My fingers feel a little bit better.  My knees and the bottoms of my feet still need some work.   I come back again next week.   I really want to do water therapy.   I still believe that is the best kind.  But because of all my markings and tape,  I won’t be able to. 😔

  Today is the luncheon for my years of service with my company.  25 years! Wow!  Dominic is going to be my date.   Lately, I’ve been forcing myself to do things and coming to the luncheon was one of them.   I want to do things, but more and more it feels like a struggle.  I want to be around people but at the same time, I want to be alone.   Maybe seeing all of my work family will be good for me. 

 I had a hard time enjoying myself and of course I put on that poker face for everyone to see the ‘happy me’.  I’m not really happy, at all.  I’ve been sad and down for a while now.   I caught up with an old work friend.  We talked for a while.   He asked how I was doing.  A part of me was trying to tell him how I was really feeling but he just couldn’t get what I was trying to say.  Everyone says I’ve had a hard year and what I’m feeling is normal.  But it’s way more than just having a hard year.  I don’t feel right.  They just don’t understand. 

When we got home, I went to my room and cried.   I cried because of this overwhelming sadness I just can’t seem to shake.   I started getting those feelings of dread more and more.  They quickly come on without warning.  It brings horrible thoughts to my mind.   I started to wonder if I wasn’t really going through some sort of depression.  I mentioned this to one of my Aunties, my dreadful feelings and she explained it the best way that I couldn’t.   Feelings of impending doom.   YES!!   That’s exactly what I’ve been feeling.   She hit the nail right on the head.  Yes, thats what I’m feeling.   Straight up DREAD, doom.   I have cried every single day.   Some days more than others and I can’t tell you why I’m even crying.  I hope that whatever this is, is only temporary.   I don’t like feeling this way. 

 Oct 14 – ugh, today I feel super nauseous 🤢 🤮  but that’s my fault.  I took a pain reliever on an empty stomach.   I know better than that.  I don’t feel so great. 

 My anxiety has me cleaning like a mad woman.     

I’ve had this ache in my heart, this void, ever since losing Riley.  I’ve been entertaining the thought of getting another kitten.  Not to replace Riley but to fill this void that I have.  

The weekend was hard for me 😔 Everyday gets worse and worse.  I have never had death on my mind as much as I do now.   That dread is starting to eat away at me.  Add anxiety to all of that and you have a horrible mix.   

Oct. 16 – I inquired about a kitten that needed a new home.  They couldn’t keep her anymore for whatever reason.  So, I made plans to go see her, to see if she liked me.   I immediately fell in love the moment I set eyes on her.   I brought her home.  I think it was meant to be.   She blended right in.  I named her Zoe, she is an 8 week old tortoiseshell.  She’s adorable.  Already, my spirits were lifted. 

 

I think she is just what I need for my heart and soul.   I think she will bring me out of this funk and be good for me.  I already love her to pieces.   ‘Don’t be mad Riley.     I will always love you.   Forever my furbaby’ 

Oct 17 –   Zoe settled into our home as if it had been her home since birth.   She lifted my mood so much, I figured things were going to be okay.  I hadn’t cried since I got her.  Yes, things will be okay.  I got this.   Tomorrow I start radiation.   I just have 4 weeks left of treatment and I’ll be home free.  It’ll all be over.  I was starting to feel happy.   Then sadness hit me once again.   I learned that a fellow worker, someone I had never met, but knew of,  had passed.  He was very young.   He took his own life.  He had children and what seemed to be a happy life.  My heart and mind couldn’t handle this news.   It hurt me so much and I didn’t even know him.  I was sad for the life he won’t get to live.  I was sad for his children.  Oh how this hurts me.  Why does it hurt me so much?  People that I’m not even connected to, I cry for.  I sunk into an awful place.   A place I had never been.  A place that I had started sinking into weeks ago. 

 Oct 18 – 1st round of radiation.  It was a breeze.    I was in and out in about 15 minutes.  It was so quick but very high amounts of radiation.   When I left, it didn’t even seem like anything was done.  It didn’t hurt at all and it was nothing like chemo.  Let’s see how I feel later.   As much as I tried, sadness still lurked around me.  I couldn’t get over the tragic news from yesterday.   I still had that on my mind when another close/coworker friend told me that her father had passed.  Oh my goodness!!    I REALLY can’t handle this.  All of this hurts me sooo much.   😭😢😭😢   I’m crying my heart out AGAIN

Oct 19 –  2nd round of radiation over and done with.   Today it was much quicker.   And here is my weekly progress.  

 

11 weeks post chemotherapy

 

I didnt realize just how fragile my mental state was.  I’ve always been the perky, happy person.   My mental state was just shattered and everyday I spiraled a little more into that dark abyss.  I hadn’t paid attention until I noticed, I don’t go outside anymore.   I come home after walking with Dominic and crawl back into bed.  I spend my whole day there and when he comes home, I force myself out of bed as if everything is okay.   I don’t sit on my swing, I don’t hear the birds sing or feel the sun shine.  I don’t listen to music.  I don’t feel the breeze.   A lot of the times, I sit in my bathroom and cry.   That’s my crying spot.  My heart feels heavy and empty and the sadness echoes.   For the past few weeks, I’ve been asking myself if maybe I’m depressed but that little voice inside tells me,  “nah, you’re too strong for that shit!”   That other voice says, “yes you are Sue, you ARE depressed.”   I don’t enjoy anything anymore and I just waste my days away.   There are so many things that I could be doing, but I do nothing.   The thoughts that have invaded my mind are scary.   Death has been on my mind a lot.  Yes, you heard me.   The always happy person has thoughts of death.  Something that I never used to think about.   My mind is in turmoil.   I can’t control the thoughts that I’ve been having.  The dread is overwhelming.  I try and talk myself down, like give myself therapy.   For a moment it works, then, there they are again.   During the week I can’t wait for Dominic to get home from school.  Usually when he’s here, everything seems okay.  When he’s at school, I fall apart.  Anxiety hits me sooo bad.   I don’t wanna be alone but at the same time, I don’t wanna be with anyone.   I can’t have a conversation over a text if someone is asking how I’m doing, without crying.  I just come undone.  I put on a happy face cuz I don’t want my son to worry.   On the outside, you could never tell, but on the inside, I’m screaming at the top of my lungs.  Why can’t anyone hear that??  Why can’t anyone see that I’m falling apart?   I’m almost positive I have some form of depression.  I just can’t shake these feelings.  I think Im finally dealing with everything that I’ve been through the past 8 months. It is all hitting me now.   My physical pain hasn’t gotten any better but I get up every day and push through it.  This sadness and feeling blue is horrible.  I think I need a happy pill just to get me over the hump.  I can’t wait to see my doctor.  I’m seriously thinking of asking for something mild.  I’m just not happy and that’s not me at all.   This mental pain is the worst. 

I had my 3rd visit with my physical therapist.   Some of my joints feel a tad bit better.  I don’t hurt so much from my knees anymore.  But I have the pain everywhere else.  Emotionally, I feel a little more broken everyday.  I think I’m just overwhelmed and tired of it all.   I don’t feel like that strong person anymore.  I need a break.  I need a break from life.  I need a serious meltdown.   After I was done with physical therapy, she mentioned that she would like to put me in a program to help get my physical ability and strength back.   It’s a program designated for cancer patients.  It’s called ‘Strive’.   It’s a 6 week program that she thinks will be good for me.  She is insistant about it, but my heart sinks at this suggestion.   I don’t want to do this, not now.  I’ve had appointments shoved up my ass since February.  I still have radiation everyday.   I don’t want more appointments.  I just wanna be done.   I know she’s trying to help me, I just don’t wanna do this.  I walked out of there in tears and cried all the way to my radiation appt.   I can’t do this anymore. 

Things are getting so much worse.  Today, I feel like slitting my wrists’.   That thought has crossed my mind soooo many times.   It’s a good thing that I don’t own a gun, I would have already shot myself.    My heart wants to do so many things but my mind doesn’t let me.   I’m trapped in my mind, lost.  It’s a Prison.  What a horrible place to be.   It’s so dark, lonely and scary.   I have no doubt, I’ve hit rock bottom, face first.  The dreadful thoughts in my mind don’t go away and I can’t control them.  I don’t know how to pick myself back up.  I don’t know how to get better.   I don’t think that I would ever hurt myself but my mind has definitely turned into an evil place.   I feel stuck there.   I wanna be taken out of my misery but then I think of Dominic and how much it would hurt him if I wasn’t here.    I sit in my bathroom in tears, asking God, no – begging him to help me.   To help me get through the day, to keep me from doing something stupid.  “Please help me!!”  I don’t know what’s happening. 

I reached out to a friend.   I called.   We text all the time but we don’t ever talk on the phone.   I needed to talk.   So, I called.   Thinking that she would be there for me, like she has always said,  she blew me off.   I didn’t even get the chance to tell her why I was calling.  She had to go, she couldn’t talk right now.   I was beside myself, going out of my mind.  I needed her help and she wasn’t there.  This added to my already broken mind. 

 Today was so very hard, mentally.    My mind was playing so many tricks on me, it scared me.  It scared me to a point that I needed someone to come stay with me, even though Dominic was here.   It’s Sunday, so I tried to occupy myself with football.  There’s football all day and our team is playing.   My mind wouldn’t let me enjoy it.  My mind had me crawling out of my own skin.  I had anxiety soo bad that my body was shaking with an uncontrolled nervousness.   Mix that with what I think is depression and you have one bad equation.  The bad thoughts wouldn’t leave me alone.   My mind started telling me that what I had (life) wasn’t real.  My home wasn’t real, my job, having a son.  It was all make believe.  I was making it all up and living a life of make believe.   My family photos on my picture wall wasn’t real, I’m making that up.  My mind said that everything around me wasn’t real.  It scared me so bad that I didn’t wanna be alone.  I wanted Dominic to be right there by my side but I also didn’t want him to see how much I was struggling.  I want this to end.   Once again, it’s a good thing I don’t own a gun.   The despair was off the freakin’ charts.

I started telling some of my friends that I was feeling very down, maybe depressed.   Everyone says that I’ll be fine, I’ve had it rough.   Why is it that no one believes you when you’re trying to tell them maybe you’re depressed, literally?  Why do they think it’s just a word to throw around?  That you’re too strong of a person to be feeling this way? 

Thoughts of slitting my wrists’ invade my mind 10fold. 

 I started to get a burn on my skin from the radiation and it feels tingly.   It looks like a sunburn.   I’ve already done a week of radiation.  3 more weeks to go.

“God, please help me.  Can you hear me?  I need your help!!”  I am silently screaming at the top of my lungs.    Why can’t anyone hear me? 

Oct 26 – Today I forced myself to get out of the house.  I made plans to do my hair.  My first haircut and I’m putting a wash out color in it.  Something gentle, cuz I have baby fine hair.   I don’t like all this gray. 

 

My 1st haircut and color post chemotherapy

My hairstylist, Nicole, whom I’ve had for years, suggested to rub rogaine ( for women) in my hair.   It stimulates the hair folicles to encourage them to grow.  I have also been taking biotin.   That too helps.  I loved the way it came out.  I’ve missed having reddish brown hair. 

12 weeks post chemotherapy

 

You can tell in these pictures that I’ve been crying.  My eyes are all red and I look so sad.  That’s because I am.  I’m not happy at all.  Even though I got my 1st haircut and put a bit of color in it.  I’m still as depressed as ever.   I cried on the way home and cried when I got home.   Today is gonna be a long day.   Dominic goes to his after school program, so I’ll be alone til almost 5.   It’s one of those days where I feel like crawling out of my skin cuz the anxiety is on overload and again I feel like slitting my wrists’.    That thought crosses my mind soo much, it scares me.   It’s on my mind, ALWAYS.  I was going out of my mind and thoughts of death wouldn’t leave me,  I couldn’t take it anymore, I had to reach out before I really did cut myself.  I needed to talk and needed someone to listen.  I NEEDED someone to be there!!   I sent out a text to my friend who I had tried calling just the other day but couldn’t talk.  “I feel like humpty dumpty,  I feel soooo broken”.  While I was waiting for her to respond, I reached out to a couple other friends.   I needed SOMEONE!

   “I’m having a hard time mentally, my mind turned to mush, please tell me it’s gonna get better”.   “I feel like humpty dumpty,  I feel soooo broken”   Out of all the friends I reached out to, all but one responded.   And the one that didn’t respond was the one I needed to talk to.  I needed her.   I needed her to be there for me.  She had always been so comforting.  I never heard from her.  So, I gave up reaching out to her. What if I would’ve slit my wrists that day?  What if I would’ve taken my life?  I needed her and she wasn’t there, again.   Another part of me broke and sunk in further.  It almost threw me over the edge.  But thank goodness for the others.  Thank goodness for Christine and Tammy and Becky and Diana and Celina.   Thank you for listening, for you kept me from doing the unthinkable.   Tammy had warned me of this way back in the beginning.   Did I listen?  Nope.   She kept telling me to take care of my mental health and I thought I was too strong of a person for that.   Now look at me.  I have dreadful thoughts and barely come out of my house.  It hit me, like she said it would and it hit me hard.   I have never felt this low in my life, EVER.   I never knew depression hurt this bad.   I would much rather deal with physical pain any day than to suffer mentally and be lost and trapped in my mind.   It’s the hardest thing and I thought chemo was hard.    They each gave me words of encouragement.    Diana sent me this – 

 

Oct 28 – Breast cancer walk. 

 My heart has been looking forward to this day, my mind isn’t.  Today I really had to force myself.    I made it through the past few days.   Today is important for me.  In the past I have always done these walks, to bring awareness.   Today, I’m walking for myself.  I am also walking for my fellow fighters and survivors and the ones who couldn’t make it.   Thank you to my crusaders for walking with me today and being with me along this journey.   It is almost over.   Today I walk as a survivor!!  I wore the ‘HOPE’ necklace that was given to me on my 1st day of chemo from another survivor.  

 

 

Despite all of my physical pain, especially in my knees and feet, I completed the whole walk.  Towards the end I amost couldn’t continue, but I made it.  What an amazing event.   So many people participate, it’s awesome.   In some pics, I look happy.   Guess what?  I’m not.

Today is also my son’s birthday.  He turns 14.  This morning was for me, the rest of the day is for him.   We all got together and went out to eat.  It was a good day but I’m still so sad on the inside.

Oct. 29 –  Today I really paid for it.  The walk from yesterday had my WHOLE body aching.  It was so hard for me to just walk.   All I did was lay around the house. 

 Oct 30 – Today has been the best that I have felt since finishing chemo.  That was 3 months ago already.   I almost feel normal.  I hope that it continues and wasn’t just a one time deal. 

 I see my doctor on the 1st.   I can’t flippin’ wait.  I’m gonna spill out everything and see what she tells me.   I KNOW something is wrong with me.  I just don’t feel right mentally.   One day  of feeling good doesn’t make up for all the days I’ve felt crummy.

 10 more radiation left!!!!  

I’m having another rough day.   Everything is just wearing on me.  I have so much to be happy about yet I feel so down.  I  can’t seem to enjoy anything.   I’m just having a hard time.   I don’t have the urge or the motivation to do anything.   Still, I waste my days away in bed.   Thinking about everything that needs to be done but feeling like a prisoner in my own body.   I’m so stuck in a horrible place.   I don’t know how I managed to get here.    I stopped taking the percocet for my pain.   I’ve been researching the symptoms and read that one of the side effects was depression.  So for that reason, I stopped.  I’ve been in a hella pain but something is causing me to sprial downward and fast, I don’t know what it is.  So, I’m forcing myself to get through each day without pain meds.   It’s a battle.   ALL of this is a battle.   

 Radiation has been a piece of cake.  I have a huge skin burn, so I started rubbing some ointment on the whole area.   It’s getting sensitive.  Nov 14th and I’ll be done.   You’re almost there Sue!! 

 Nov 1 –  Today I finally see my primary doctor.  I thought this appointment would never get here.   I hope she can point me in the right direction or give me something that’ll help me feel better.   I told her EVERYTHING!!   I told her I was feeling this way the last time that I saw her but I thought it was something that would go away.   I let it go on too long.  I bawled in her office talking about how low I’ve been feeling.  She was sooo understanding and comforting.   She sat and talked with me.  I told her how much things or events hurt me.  Tragedies of people that I’m not even connected to, just unravel my soul.   I’m in such a dark place and the past 6 weeks have been brutal on my mental health.  I told her about all the dread and the many thoughts of death.  Wanting to slit my wrists’ most days.   I knew something was way wrong.  I AM suffering.  She diagnosed me with post traumatic stress and depression.   She was going to set me up with a therapist but I didn’t want to wait the month that it was going to take to get me in.   I was so bad that I wasn’t gonna last if I had to wait that long.  So, instead I asked her to put me on a medication and she did.   She prescribed me Sertraline 50 mg.   I need to take it everyday.    She’s gotten good, positive feedback on this medication and she believes it will really help me.   Other than the chemo attacking my body, the depression is also a culprit for my physical pain.   I never thought depression could make your body hurt so bad.   She said she was gonna work on getting me back to ‘me’.   I sure hope she does.  She said it was gonna take about 2 weeks for the medication to build up in my system and feel like it’s working.   So, there is a good chance that I’ll feel worse before it gets better.  That thought alone scares me. 

 I filled that prescription as soon as I got it and popped one in my mouth as soon as I got home.  I can’t continue feeling this way.  It’ll cause me to end my life.  Seriously.  The voices in my mind are pure evil.  Demons.   The mental agony is beyond my control.   The depths of this black hole are frightening and the pain ricochets and echos with an unforgiving lonliness in my soul.   Mental pain is BY FAR my most worst experience.  I hope I make it through.  I am hanging on by a thread and I feel like it’s about to break.   Lord help me to hang on.  

 

 

 “Lord, please help me.  Please save me.  I am soo lost.  Please get me through this” 😭

 

 

DEPRESSION HURTS soooo BAD 😢😔😭