Journal entry by Linda Dew-Hiersoux —
Friends,
I am happy to share the results of my latest PET scan (8/31) show No Evidence of Cancer (NED.)
At the end of May when I finished the "wicked" chemotherapy I began a new regime of oral chemo (Kisqale) and monthly injections of hormone therapy(Faslodex.) LDH attempts to talk like a Dr.: "Hormone therapy targets and blocks hormones like estrogen to help prevent cancer cells from growing and spreading."
My version? The new meds are working and no cancer has grown/shown itself.
I am deeply grateful and hugely relieved.
Your love and prayers are buoys for my spirit and for our family.
And....
Because I no longer hold the same sort of certainty I once did about my health and body I am trying my best to lean into the certainty that, at least, my body and life is good. This is hard internal work. Our world affirms health and productivity and frowns upon limitations and lack of achievement. The capitalist system is part of me on a cellular level which I am seeking to uncover, examine and hold onto only what is useful.
I have been helped recently by a book called "My Body and Other Crumbling Empires" by Lyndsey Medford
who writes,
"I believe we, the limited, matter, and we belong.
I believe we, the fragile, can show a culture of bravado how to live with finitude.
I believe we, the delicate, contribute something, to the world just by being right here, on our couches. Again.
I believe we are canaries int he coal mine of a breaking earth, and our embodied existence, our boundaries lives, our networks of care offer prophetic presence to the world."
I would add "I am not my hair."
I love you all and am posting a few photos of the last few months (if I can get it to work!)
Some vacation time was had. Good meals were shared. Sophia and Dylan moved into their first apartment. Hudson and I love our protein smoothies. Life is beautiful. Life is good. God is good too.
Amen.
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