Two Days Down

I wrapped up day two of my five-day chemo stretch this morning, and so far, it has looked a lot like what the doctors, nurses, and the internet promised. Pretty manageable. The needle still isn’t my favorite part of the day, but there is something oddly peaceful about three quiet hours each morning with a book in hand and nowhere else to be.

The Del Oro English department put together a chemo care package that feels exactly like them. Thoughtful, a little creative, and full of heart. Snacks, a puzzle book, and a novel called This Is Happiness, wrapped in an old school homemade book cover that made me smile right away. I am about two-thirds of the way through it, and I am all in. It follows a 17-year-old Irish boy making sense of love, loss, friendship, and family, and it has me thinking a lot about how we all move through our own stories.

Here’s the line from the book I’m holding onto most this week:

“Story was the stuff of life, and to realise you were inside one allowed you to sometimes surrender to the plot, to bear a little easier the griefs and sufferings and to enjoy more fully the twists that came along the way.”

That feels grounding to me.

From what I have been told, tomorrow is when the fatigue may start to show up, and it will likely build into next week.

I think I’m ready.