Three Seasons Later

Done. Done. Done with that!

Chemo is finished, thankfully, and I owe some words of appreciation to those who so kindly extended their help. To my husband Dennis, to BK, and to TB, thanks so much for chauffeuring me on chemo days. Also, many thanks to EQ for stopping by to visit during my treatments.

I'm also very grateful to my lunch/coffee buddies -- JB, BE, LR, MB and BP. You've brightened my mood over many meals and continued to assure me that my bandanna was fine. Really.

Thanks, Mom, for the meals. And thanks to everyone for your extended support over these long months since I was first diagnosed. Your kind thoughts have arrived in many forms -- e-mails, blogposts, telephone calls, greeting cards, floral deliveries, prayers and, yes, even mental telepathy. I know that you're thinking of me, and that knowledge has helped to propel me forward with my good spirits mostly intact.

My first radiation planning session is scheduled for later this week, when I will get some better information about the final phase of treatment. This breast cancer ordeal, which began last September with a peanut-sized mass palpable under my skin, will wind down in the not-too-distant future, and I will shift into a maintenance mode. Since embarking on my detour, a Halloween, a Thanksgiving, a Christmas, and an Easter have all been celebrated. A once obscure politician, Barack Obama, now has instant name recognition.

This past weekend in Los Angeles, the weather was more akin to July than April, the tomato plants were beginning to flower, and people's conversations were drifting toward graduations and vacations. Summer will circle around again soon, and I will return to days without cancer treatments.

The life I resume, however, will not exactly be the same as the one that I led a summer ago. I'm no longer the same. How could I be?