Riding the wave...
I was so lucky to have the opportunity to surf with First Descents a few years ago. I met wonderful people, and picked up one of the metaphors that works for me in dealing with MBC. The ocean doesn't care about you, and it is wild, wonderful, beautiful, calm, raging all in turns. And yet we still go out and ride the waves. In surfing because we could, in MBC because we have no choice. I've been riding a nice wave this past late fall and winter after a rough late summer/early fall. Gem+carbo has worked well - especially after reducing the dose. And side effects were ok, lots of fatigue and low blood counts, but not much nausea or other. Mostly though my breathing improved and my pain abated, which is a pretty good indicator of how well treatment is working for me, and I had two stable scans. All in all life improved. During this time I also worked to step back some from advocacy as I try to focus more limited energy on family, friends, nature etc. This has been hard, especially...
