Saturday, June 12, 2010

Learning To Live With It

Dear Friends and Family,

It has been a little more than 6 weeks since the surgery where Elaine’s doctors found her tumors, and about 10 weeks since she first presented complaining of symptoms. Her wounds have healed beautifully. She is strong and her spirits are high. Most important, we’re over the shock, and so we’ve settled into the stark truth that this is about how we can manage a very serious situation over a very long period of time.

The texture of our lives has changed. Of course there’s the feeling that we’re sitting under the Sword of Damocles. But suddenly Elaine doesn’t have a day that’s chock full from beginning to end, and sometimes I can see she’s a little at odds that she doesn’t have as much to do as she’s used to. She tires easily, and will take at least one and sometimes several naps every day. She lost a good deal of weight through the surgeries, and must consciously focus on regaining at least some of it. She has lots of minor pains and inconveniences associated with her condition, but those are gradually ameliorating.